the Maiden of Might
by Freddy Mercury's Moustache
Summary: When four young protégés discover a wicked secret in D.C, a new age of heroism begins. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and of course, Supergirl, this is Young Justice, only DON'T call them sidekicks.
1. Independence Day

**Metropolis  
****July 4, 13:00 EDT**

It had been just like any ordinary Independence day in Metropolis city park, right up until a nine foot tall, hulking, pale-blue figure began rampaging through the picnic sites and family get-togethers.

The massive beast was running through the park at a surprising speed, using his tree-trunk-thick arms to uproot trees and snap picnic tables, it seemed like nothing would stop it.

Suddenly the creature picked up a large boulder one young couple had been making out on moments before, and hurled it at a little boy not too far away, the boy had no time to even scream before the rock was blasted into dust by four high-pressure heat lasers.

"Of all the days Bergie, you had to pick _today_ to show your ugly mug."

The ice-beast turned it's attention to the pair of figures descending into the park, a dark haired man, and a blonde girl. They both wore matching outfits, with tight-fitting navy blue shirts, with the blonde's midriff visible, and dark red boots. The man wore matching navy blue tights, a golden belt, red underpants over his tights, and had a long, flowing red cape.

The girl, however, kept her legs bare, and instead wore a matching blue skirt that ended just above her knees with her gold belt. She too wore a red cape. The most noticeable feature was the red and yellow 'S' insignia on their chests, which was symbolic of the Super-family.

"Now Kara, we don't want to anger iceberg further" the man chastised. To say it was too late would be understating it.

Iceberg let out a guttural cry that somewhat resembled english and sounded a lot like "Superman die!" before charging at the two heroes, who didn't even flinch at the oncoming enemy.

"Ugh, i've got no time for this" Supergirl flew forward to meet her foe with an outstretched fist, and when the two collided, the girl ended up hovering triumphantly above the downed villain. It was out cold.

"Yeah, that's right sucker, now c'mon Kal, let's go" she whined to her companion, who chuckled at her behaviour.

"Exited, aren't you." he smiled.

"Well duh, today's the day" she grinned, before, taking off in the direction of Washington, Man of Steel in tow.

**Washington, D.C.  
****July 4, 14:00 EDT**

The two Kryptonians had been standing at their destination for almost an hour now, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, so far Aquaman and his protege Aqualad had made it, as had Green Arrow with Speedy, and Batman with his sidekick Robin, the eight stood in a line, their gaze resting on the Hall of Justice before them.

"Today's the day" Batman said, placing his hand on Robin's shoulder "welcome to the Hall of Justice" Green Arrow supplied "Headquarters of the Justice League" Aquaman continued "And one day, you" Superman finished, wrapping an arm around his cousin.

"Aw man!" A voice cried from behind, the eight heroes turing to see the Flash and his sidekick Kid Flash zooming forward to meet them "I knew we'd be the last ones here" he frowned, crossing his arms.

The group began to make their way towards the Hall, passing press and tourists alike, who say things like "is that Batman!?" And "oh my, I see flash and Flash Junior." "his name's Speedy, duh" "no! Speedy is Green Arrow's sidekick" "well that makes no sense" This elicited a giggle from the only female present, followed by "oh my god!, i-it's Superman!" "And Supergirl too!".

"So lil' Supey, I was wondering-" Fid Flash was cut off

"No" she simply stated "you didn't hear me out" he frowned "didn't need to" she smirked, strutting on ahead, not that the speedster minded the view.

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" GA asked his protege "born that way" he replied.

"Glad we're all here" Aqualad commented.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same pla-" KF's question was cut off by Speedy.

"**_Don't _**call us sidekicks, not after today" he growled.

"Sorry, first time at the hall, i'm a little overwhelmed" Kid Flash grinned sheepishly "your overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed, why isn't anybody ever just whelmed" Robin complained "your english teacher must hate you" Supergirl told him.

The group entered the Hall and were immediately met with the sight of giant bronze statues depicting the original seven Leaguers, standing tall and proud in the atrium, Kara's cousin being front and centre. She smiled at the sight.

They all made their way towards a pair of large metal doors which opened up, revealing Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Supergirl, welcome." Martian Manhunter greeted, before leading the gathered heroes further into the Hall "you now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library," Manhunter narrated as he gave a brief tour of the inner-hall, ending in the library.

"Make yourselves at home," Flash said.

Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin immediately took places on the three chairs, Supergirl unceremoniously collapsed onto the ground, arms linked behind her head, and Speedy remained standing off to the side.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of five ice villains attacking on the same day, we shouldn't be long" Batman announced. All of the leaguers stood before another pair of metal doors, this time a small device popped out of the wall and began scanning them.

"Recognized: Superman 0-1, Batman 0-2, Aquaman 0-6, Flash 0-4, Green Arrow 0-8, Martian Manhunter 0-7, Red Tornado 1-6" it called out.

"That's it?!" Speedy loudly complained. "You promised us a real tour. Not a glorified backstage pass." He glared at the mentors.

"It's a first step," Aquaman reasoned. "You've been given access on what few others get."

"Oh really?" He frowned, holding an arm out towards a large window were some tourists took pictures from "who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

Supergirl pointedly raised a brow at the angry teen.

"Roy, you just need to be patient," GA tried to calm down his protege.

"What I need, is respect," Speedy growled before turning to his fellow proteges, Supergirl now in a 'Titanic-french-girl-painting-pose' "They're treating us like kids, worse, like sidekicks." He spat "We deserve better than this."

The four sidekicks exchanged looks and turned back to Speedy

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy couldn't believe the others . "Today was supposed to be the day! Step one to becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

"Well, sure," Kid Flash said. "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy said, Supergirl swallowing a lump in her throat. "I bet they never told you that it was just a front for tourists and a pit stop to catching Zeta-beam tubes to the real thing! An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower!"

"The other three looked to Supergirl questioningly. She shrugged sheepishly.

"You are not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman stepped forward. "Stand down, or-"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And i'm not your son," Speedy growled. "I'm not even his." He he looked at Green Arrow. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore." Took off his cap, threw it onto the floor, and stormed out of the hall.

"I guess they were right about you four" he said as he passed the other sidekicks "your not ready" were his final words before leaving.

A beep suddenly came from the large monitor that adorned the back wall, before it turned on showing an image of Wonder Woman. "Wonder Woman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

"I've had my suspicions on Cadmus," Batman said. "This will present the perfect opportunity to–"

"Zatara to Justice League." A third voice interrupted "The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Atem to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response."

"Diana?" Batman asked, looking to the amazon for further information.

"It's a small fire," she said. "The local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait," Batman ultimately decided. He pressing a few keys on the computer. "All Leaguers rendezvous to Zatara's coordinates. Batman out."

Batman turned to the younger heroes "stay put."

"What?" Robin exclaimed. "Why?"

"This is a League mission," Aquaman explained.

"You're not trained–" Flash started.

"Since when?!" Kid Flash cut off.

"I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team," Flash finished.

"Hello? Literally bulletproof" Supergirl offered, but was ignored.

"There will be other missions when you're ready," Aquaman said.

"C'mon, i'm indestructible!" The girl was once again ignored.

"But for now," Batman gave a stern glare. "Stay put." He ordered, him and the others leaving through the metal doors.

"When we're ready?!" KF wasn't happy. "How are we supposed to ever be ready if they treat us like, like."

"Sidekicks?" Supergirl glumly offered.

"Exactly!" Kid Flash angrily cried.

"My mentor… my King… I thought he trusted me." Aqualad dejectedly frowned.

"Trust?" Kid Flash guffawed. "They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got an orbiting secret HQ in space!" This came with a raised eyebrow at Kara who shrugged.

"What else aren't they telling us?"

"I have a better question," Robin spoke up. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

"What is, Project Cadmus?" Asked Aqualad.

"Don't know" Robin stated "but I can find out" he smirked, walking over to a computer terminal.

"Access denied." The terminal announced.

"Wanna bet?" Chuckled Robin, pressing some more keys and buttons.

"Whoa," Kid Flash was in awe. "How are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave" Robin replied, still smirking.

"Access granted."

Robin opened up a file on Cadmus. "Alright, Project Cadmus… genetics lab… here in D.C…. That's all there is."

"But if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate," he suggested, smirking.

"Solve their case before they do," Aqualad smiled. "It would be poetic justice."

"And they're all about justice," Supergirl grinned, slamming one fist into an open hand.

Aqualad sighed. "But they said stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this," Robin said.

"I am _so _in" the kryptonian wrapped an arm around the Boy Wonder.

"Wait, are you going to Cadmus?" Kid Flash asked. "because if you're goin' I'm goin'." The two males and alien girl grinned up at Aqualad.

"Just like that?" Aqualad questioned. "Were a team on a mission?"

"We didn't come to for a play date" Robin smiled.

Robin told the others were Cadmus was located, and they sprang into action, Kid Flash and Supergirl zoomed ahead with their super-speed.

As the two approached at near sonic speeds, they saw two scientists waving frantically for help, while the firemen put out the blaze. Thinking quick, they each made their way up the outside wall, KF literally running on the wall, and pulled the scientists to safety, but Kid Flash skipped and ended up clinging to the ledge for dear life.

"It's what's-his-name! Flash Boy!" Yelled on the the fire fighters.

"It's Kid Flash, why is that so hard to remember?" Asked the boy in question to nobody in particular

"Beats me, and no, you dangling there is too much of a laugh" Supergirl said when the speedster looked at here hopefully, understanding at least that if he fell, she would still catch him anyway.

Robin, meanwhile, fired a grappling hook and acrobatically made his way into the building pulling KF with him.

Aqualad, still on the ground, requested the water from the fire hose so he could make a platform to lower the scientists down from the roof with.

"It's cool, I got it" yelled Sulergirl as she used her freeze-breath to put out the last of the fire.

"I appreciate the help," Aqualad said sarcastically, as he and the female hero leapt through the window, into the room.

"You handled it," Robin said. "'besides, we're here to investigate, poetic justice remember?" He smirked.

As the team began searching through cabinets and hacking computers, Supergirl heard the sound of elevator doors closing. Her head spun left, she glimpsed a strange looking being inside the elevator, "guys?" She called out "something _totally _not human just got in that elevator" this caught the boy's attention, and all four made their way towards the elevator.

"Elevators should be locked down" commented Kid Flash. Robin ran over to the elevator "this is wrong" pulled up a holographic plan of the building from his glove, "thought so, this is a high-speed express elevator, it doesn't belong in a two story building."

"Hey, supey?" Kid Flash asked "couldn't you just use your X-ray vision?"

Supergirl shook her head "no, they must have lined the walls with lead to prevent me or Superman from taking a sneaky peek."

"Anyway, lets investigate" she cracked her knuckles, jammed her slim fingers between the doors, and easily pushed them apart, revealing the elevator shaft to go very, very far below ground.

"Maybe more than two stories Rob" the blonde frowned, staring down the shaft.

Robin fired his grappling gun at the roof of the shaft, and began lowering himself down, Supergirl followed suit by flying down after him, and the other two males slid down the rope to follow.

As they descended, Supergirl internally questioned how wise this truly was, and what Cadmus was hiding below the earth.

"I'm at the end of my rope," Robin said as he came to a stop by level 26.

Robin swung on his rope, and let go to land on the ledge by the shaft door, Kid Flash and Aqualad following, before Supergirl pried open the doors while hovering in air.

The boys stepped out into the dim hallway, and Supergirl touched down.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin said.

Kid Flash sprinted ahead, "Kid!" Supergirl called out, using her own super speed to catch up, stopping just as a horde of giant, mammoth-like creatures with red eyes, grey skin, and fists for front feet lumbered by. They had tiny horned creatures squatting on their shoulders.

"No" Aqualad began "nothing odd going on here."

The group continued down the dimly lit hallway until they reached another set of doors, Robin using a program on his glove to hack the doors open.

"I'm officially whelmed," he said.

The room was big, giant even, and stacked roof to floor with blue tubes holding strange creatures emitting some kind of electricity.

"This must be how they keep the facility hidden" Supergirl pondered, staring around at the tubes "the real Cadmus isn't on the grid" Kid Flash agreed "it generates it's own power with these... things, must be what they're bred for."

"Of course, even the name is a clue" Aqualad said "the Cadmus of myth created a new race by sewing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"These things are even weirder than anything _i've_ seen before, and, y'know, space" Supergirl said, flying up to get a closer look at one of the creatures.

"This Cadmus is creating new life too" Robin walked over to a computer monitor "let's find out why."

"They call 'em Genomorphs," Robin read. "woah! Look at the stats on these things! Super strength, telepathy, razor claws, they're breeding weapons!"

"They're engineering an army, but for who?" Kid Flash inquired.

"There's something else," Robin changed topics. "Project Kr. The files triple encrypted, I can't–"

"Don't move!" Someone ordered, and in ran a man in a black outfit, with a grey metal chestpeice, one large yellow gauntlet, and a yellow helmet. He was surrounded by more Genomorphs, but these looked built for combat.

"Wait, Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Supergirl?" He said.

"At least he got your name right," Robin teased at KF before turning back to the project Kr files.

"I know you, Guardian, a hero" stated Aqualad.

"I try my best" he replied, how modest.

"Then what are you doing here?" Asked Kid Flash.

"I think that's my question kids, i'm chief of security, and your trespassing" he was all business "but don't worry, we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons!?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Weapons?" Guardian was confused "wha-" he trailed off when the small Genomorph turned to look at him, it's horns glowing red

"What have I- ugh- my head" he stuttered before looking dead on at the teens, the genomorph's horns no longer glowing "take 'em down hard! no mercy!" He ordered, the larger Genomorphs charging.

Robin threw down a smoke pellet and disappeared, just as four Genomorphs leapt at Supergirl, who dodged one and grabbed it by the legs, swinging the thing around like a club at the others.

When the others were out cold, she swung around and threw her impromptu weapon like a rag doll, and letting go to run down the hallway she thought Robin ran down.

The three heroes found the Boy Wonder hacking an elevator monitor.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash glared.

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin asked.

The doors opened up and they ran in, Aqualad still trying to outrun the Genomorphs until Supergirl tackled him though the open doors, and to safety.

"Thanks" Aqualad smiled at the blonde as he got up.

"Dude, out is up!" Kid Flash yelled at Robin, the other two just noticed they were descending.

"Excuse me? Project Kr is down on sublevel fifty-two." The smallest boy argued.

"This is getting out of control," Aqualad sighed. "Perhaps… perhaps we should contact the League." They all stood silent until the doors opened.

When the doors first opened, Supergirl's first thought was... gag. They had stepped into what looked like the inside of a human heart, minus the blood, and further down, it split into two other halls. Robin and Kara ran forward to stand by the fork in the path, the others following.

Aqualad sighed "Which way?"

"Yeah, bizarre-looking hallway one or bizarre-looking hallway two?" Quipped Robin.

"Halt!" Came a voice, it was another Genomorph, but it looked smarter, had clothing on, and Supergirl recognised it as the person from the elevator earlier.

The Genomorph, lifted it's had, it's horns glowing red, and lifted two small barrels with some kind of telekinesis, before sending them flying at the heroes.

"Two, two, two, two" chanted Supergirl as they sped down the hall, coming to a stop by Kid Flash, who had jammed a tank in the closing blast doors when he sped ahead.

"Hurry!" He shouted, the boys jumping through, and Supergirl followed, before she kicked the barrel out.

"I disabled the door," called Robin from the umpteenth hacked terminal. "We're safe."

"We're trapped," Aqualad dryly corrected.

"Uh… guys," called KF. "You'll wanna see this... 'specially Supey" he pressed a button on the control panel he was at, and the room lit up.

But not for the better...


	2. Fireworks

**Washington, D.C.  
****July 4, 23:43 EDT**

In front of them was a large tube with a figure suspended inside. It looked like Superman, only younger, and wearing a white jumpsuit with a red 'S' shield on the chest.

"Big K little R," Kid Flash said, walking up to the pod. "The atomic symbol for Krypton."

Supergirl was speechless, feeling and endless cycle of confusion, fear, sadness and pure blinding rage.

"Robin, hack," Aqualad ordered.

"Uh, right, right," Robin answered.

"Weapon designation Superboy. A clone force grown in… sixteen weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," Kara spat through gritted teeth.

"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash frowned.

"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four seven."

"And these... creatures?" Aqualad gestured to the three small Genomorphs in his pod. "Genomorph gnomes, telepathic. They're force feeding him an education." robin replied.

"And you can guess what else, they're making a slave out of... well, Superman's son," Kid Flash commented, warily eying the girl that had yet to look away from Superboy.

"Now we contact the League," Aqualad stated, pressing the buckle of his belt

"No signal," Robin fiddling with his glove.

"We're in too deep," Kid Flash commented, hand pressed to his ear "literally."

"This is wrong."

"We can't leave him like this."

"Set him free," Aqualad said, Robin looked hesitant.

"NOW!" Shouted Supergirl, her voice reverberating iff the walls, and her fist leaving a deep dent in the panel where she hit it, her glare was a bug bite off Robin's hot, painful death.

"Woah, okay" Robin typed on the control panel a bit and the pod opened up.

Suddenly Superboy woke up, and in the blink of an eye, tackled Aqualad to the ground, several feet back. Faster than a speeding bullet.

The other three ran over to stop him from punching Aqualad, but he turned slightly, and punched Kid Flash away, through a glass tube, before returning to beating Aqualad, Robin attached to his neck, and Kara onto his waist.

"I don't want to do this!" Cried Robin as he detonated a smoke bomb by Superboy's face, and Aqualad took advantage by kicking the clone away.

Robin fired a high-powered taser at Superboy, the thick wires hitting him in chest but having little to no effect. Superboy grabbed hold of them, and pulled robin in, caught him mid-air, and threw him to the ground, stomping a foot down to almost crush Robin's chest.

Supergirl flew forward to stop him while Aqualad recovered, landing in a fight of strength, as the two Kryptonians (one being only a clone) stood, hands linked and pressing for dominance.

"You, you're weak, you don't deserve to wear that shield" goaded Supergirl, it seemed to have no effect as Superboy's hands began to push her arms down.

Aqualad came to help just in time, as he smacked Superboy away and into his own pod-bed with a large water hammer.

The two remaining sidekicks knelt down to check on Robin, who groaned in pain before falling unconscious.

Supergirl got, up and roared in anger, flying at Superboy, who sidestepped her just in time, when a little voice in his head told him what to do.

He started to attack her, knocking Aqualad out of the way every now and then, and drover towards a special pod not far away. He then went on to pick her up by the front of her costume, and throw her through the pod's glass lid, where inside a device was emitting intense, close-range red sun energy, causing Supergirl to feel weak, and fall unconscious when a metal box was thrown into her head.

Aqualad, now truly feeling anger at the defeat of his friends, attacked Superboy full force, showing the incredible strength he possessed by being an Atlantian. The two fought with ferocity, and the darker combatant leapt onto the other's back, using his powers to send high voltage electricity through the clone's body, but Superboy's strength was too much, and he jumped up towards the roof, smashing Aqualad into the hard ceiling, over and over until he fell unconscious, they had been beaten.

**Washington, D.C.  
****July 5, 00:05 EDT**

_"Time runs short" _a voice echoed through her head_"you must awaken, you must awaken now!"_

Supergirl was shocked awake, the others were still asleep. She noticed that they were all in a new room, and trapped in pods like Superboy's. She tried to break out, but the pods must have been giving off red sun energy, to prevent her escape that is. She looked around and noticed her cousin's clone was in the room too, staring at them, or more specifically, her.

"Something you need?" She raised a brow, he just continued to stare at her.

"Did those creepy Gnomes teach you speech?" She sarcastically asked.

"They taught me much" he simply stated, she was surprised that it came with no malice, despite the hard expression on his features. "You wear his shield, but you are not the Superman, who are you?" He asked, expression remaining neutral.

"Nice to know Cadmus recognises me" she said, sarcastically "I'm Supergirl, his cousin, and by effect, yours, I guess" he actually frowned, not in anger, in thought, but made not a sound.

The others woke up next, Kid Flash taking the longest, which was ironic as he was knocked out first.

While Robin and Aqualad remained silent, Kid Flash became unnerved by the clone's empty stare.

"What do you want?" KF demanded "quit staring at me, you're creeping me out."

"Uh, KF, how 'bout we _not _tick off the guy who can fry us with a look" Robin tried quiet him.

"Hey, just so you, know were trying to help earlier" Supergirl told Superboy.

"Yeah" Kid Flash cried "we free you, and then you turn on us, what's that for-"

He was interrupted "Kid, please, be quiet now" Aqualad placated "I believe our new friend was not in full control of his actions."

"Like Guardian" the nearby blonde gasped in realisation.

Superboy ignored her "What if... what if I wasn't?" the clone asked.

"He can talk!?" the junior speedster exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Supergirl yelled at him, suddenly feeling protective of the clone.

"What?" Kid Flash asked indignantly "it's not like I said 'it'"

"So, the Genomorphs taught you telepathically, right?" Supergirl asked, now curious.

The clone nodded "they taught me much, I can read, I can write, I know the names of some things" he told her.

"Not _my _name apparently" she muttered, he actually looked sheepish for a moment.

"Have you actually _seen_ those things?" Asked Robin "have you_ seen _the sky, the sun?"

"They implanted images in my mind, but no" he frowned sadly, Supergirl feeling some sympathy for the clone.

"Do you know who you are?" Asked Aqualad, Superboy's head snapped up, his expression neutral again.

"I am the Superboy, a clone of the Superman, I was created to replace him should he perish, or destroy him should he turn from the light" he recited, Supergirl's sympathy now turned into anger.

"Like you could destroy him" she glared, but it softened a little "but... you deserve life of your own, outside the pod, and outside Cadmus" she told him.

"I _live _because of Cadmus, it is my _home_" he growled.

"Uh, your home is a test tube, but we can show you the sun" Robin told the clone.

"Pretty sure it's past midnight, but we can show you the moon" Kid Flash added.

"We can show you, better, introduce you to Superman" the blonde softly offered.

"No, they can't" someone said, two scientists, a male and a female, entered with Gaurdian, each of which had a G-Gnome on their shoulders "they'll be... Otherwise _occupied_" the male turned to the female, "activate the cloning process."

"Pass" Robin said "Batcave's crowded enough."

The scientist yelled at Gaurdian "and get the weapon back in it's pod!"

"Hey! How come _he _gets to call Supey an it?"

Kid was ignored "help us" Aqualad pleaded.

Superboy resisted Gaurdian's grip, but as the male scientist walking past, his G-gnome leapt onto Superboy's shoulder "don't start thinking now" he said "see, you're not a _real _boy, you're a weapon, and you belong to me..." He thought for a moment "well, to Cadmus, same thing, now get back into your pod!" Superboy left without a second glance.

Out of nowhere, small needle like-devices popped out of the floor of the tubes, and connected to the heroes' chests, sending them into groans and growls of pain.

Suddenly, a loud crash, and the sudden absence of door caused immense relief to the heroes. Superboy came back.

As he stalked forward, the scientist ordered him to go back to his pod, but the clone forcefully pushed both scientists and Guardian away.

"_Don't _give me orders!" He growled.

"You here to help us? or fry us?" Kid Flash asked. Superboy narrowed his eyes a little before smirking "huh, I don't seem to have heat vision so I suppose helping is my only option" suddenly Robin's shackles broke off, freeing him.

"Ugh, Finally, lucky Batman _isn't_ here" Robin sounded relieved once he successfully picked his own lock "he'd have my head for taking so long."

"Seriously? that's what your worried about." KF exclaimed "the whole league'll have our heads after tonight!"

"Ugh, i'm _so _grounded, literally" Supergirl groaned.

"You free Aqualad, i'll get your kinda-cousin and Kid Mouth" Robin told the tall clone

"Don't _you _give me orders either" he replied, before leaping at Aqualad, and breaking his restraints off.

Once they were all free, the group fled the room, with the now _very _angry scientist yelling at them about pods in the morning or whatever.

"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all" as he said this, Robin turned and threw explosive birdarangs into each of the tanks containing collected DNA from the pods.

"What is it with you and this whelmed thing" Kid Flash questioned as they ran.

They made it further into the hall when they noticed the red blobs on the walls, floor and roof glowing "not good" Supergirl said, when the pods burst open, and dozens of combat Genomorphs crawled out, before running at the kids.

"We are still 42 levels below ground." Aqualad said. "But when we make it to the elevator-" they were halted by a group of mammoth Genomorphs standing by the elevator, grunting and roaring in a threatening manner, while smaller, combat genomorphs burst from the glowing pods behind them.

"Freakin' great" Supergirl muttered..

Supergirl knew she would be useless, as the recent exposure to red sun energy, and the lack of yellow sun energy had drained her powers to the point of her being essentially human.

Superboy roared back at the genomorphs as the other ran by them. He leapt at one, began to beat it down despite the size difference. As he smashed the beast into the ground, the hall began to shake and crumble.

"Superboy!" Yelled Aqualad, "the goal is to escape, not bury us!" This got his attention

"You want escape?!" The clone yelled back. He grabbed a G-mammoth and tossed it at two others, before the group continued to run back down the hall, and to the elevator shaft.

Aqualad pried the doors open, and KF was first in, jumping onto the ridge of the shaft. Next, Robin fired his grappling hook upwards, and began ascending, Supergirl grabbing hold of his foot to go up with him.

Supergirl looked down and saw Superboy holding Aqualad, but their ascent quickly became descent. Robin noticed quick enough, and fired a small rope to stop their fall, and land them onto another ledge, before landing himself, and Supergirl too.

"Superman can fly, why can't I fly?" He asked himself. "I guess Cadmus didn't have the ability to develop your powers enough" Supergirl said "Be glad, when _I _was 16 weeks, I couldn't fly either" she tried to placate. He didn't need to know it was due to the red sun Krypton revolved around.

"Guys! This'll have to be our exit!" Robin drew their attention to the elevator currently moving down towards them.

Superboy broke the doors off and they all jumped into a hall on sub-level-15. They ran when a group of genomorphs charged down the hall at them.

"Turn left, left!" The clone ordered, they all complied, after a moment "right!" They once again followed only to come up to a dead end, with a single vent placed into wall above

"Great directions Supey, do you wan't to get us repodded?!" Kid Flash yelled.

"I do not understand." He replied.

"Don't apologise!" Robin pushed to the front of the group "this is perfect!"

The group found themselves crawling through the facility vents, Supergirl at the back of the group as her skirt left little to the imagination _without_ letting people peek up it.

"Hey, SG, sure you don't want to move on up here?" KF called back, causing the alien to scowl.

"Shove it Spe-" Superboy placed a hand over her mouth "listen" he ordered, the five of them halting and going silent. They heard the sounds of Genomorph claws scraping through the vents, following them, which sent the group into overdrive.

They continued crawling through the vent system until they came across an exit. They jumped out and Robin crouched by the wall, fiddling with a hologram projecting from his glove.

"What gives?" Supergirl asked.

He smiled proudly "I hacked the motion sensors" he told them.

"Oh, nice" they all grinned at him.

"Still plenty of room between us and out" the Boy Wonder told them.

"But iv'e finally got room to move!" Kid Flash placed his red goggles over his eyes and opened the nearby fire exit door, super-sprinting up the stairs with the other heroes in his wake.

As they ran, genomorphs began converging on them front ahead, but KF knocked them, down as he ran.

"More behind us!" Robin shouted. Sure enough, there were more trailing behind, that is until Superboy super-stomped the stairs out.

When they finally reached sub-level 1, the hall was lit up red, and sirens blared all around. There was a thick blast door between them and freedom though, and Kid Flash learned the hard way how solid it was.

"We're cut off from the street" Aqualad pointed out, Kid glared at him "thanks, my head hadn't noticed."

Superboy and Aqualad's combined strength wasn't enough to break them open, and Robin couldn't hack fast enough as more Genomorphs made their way towards them.

"This way" ordered the Dark Knight's sidekick as he broke open a nearby door, and lead them through, only to enter a room filled with genomorphs of all kind, more coming behind them, and Guardian standing amongst their ranks.

They all prepared their weapons, but when every one of the G-gnome's horns lit up, the heroes fell to the ground, asleep, and Superboy to his knees.

The clothed Genomorph from earlier came forward, horns glowing, and use his telepathy to speak directly to Superboy.

_"Perhaps for the sake of _all_ genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his _own_ mind"_

Superboy's head snapped up to stare at him.

_"It was you" _he thought _"yes brother, I was the one who set the fire and led your new friends down into Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger"_ the G-leader replied _"and guided me, why?"_ Asked the clones

_"Because you are our hope, the genomorph hero, you will blaze a trail for all of our brothers, showing us the way to freedom"_

The G-gnome on Guardian's shoulder ended it's telepathic control over him, and leapt away. The sleeping heroes woke at the same time.

Superboy stood up

_"What is your choice brother?" _G-leader asked

"I... Choose... Freedom" Superboy answered aloud.

"Feels like... fog... lifting" Guardian held his head

"Guardian?" Aqualad spoke. "Go, i'll deal with Desmond" he replied

"I think not" a voice replied. The Genomorphs parted to reveal the not-whelmed-scientist "Project Blockbuster will give me power to restore order to Cadmus" he said, holding up a test tube of blue liquid, before drinking it.

He fell to the floor, grunting in pain and effort, his body growing, and cloths tearing. His skin started ripping off to reveal a new, blue layer below. By the end on the transformation, he had tripled in size, strength, and viciousness.

"Everyone, back!" Ordered Guardian, running at the beast only to be knocked back and into a wall. He was out cold.

Superboy growled in anger, and ran at Blockbuster too, only _he _got in more than a few hits, before being swatted away.

Superboy made another leap for the former scientist, before it spear-tackled him through the ceiling.

"Ok, Well, that's one way to break through the ceiling" Robin commented, firing another grapple through the hole left behind.

"Think lab coat planned that?" KF asked, grabbing hold of Robin as they were flung upwards

"I doubt he's planning _anything_ anymore" Aquald muttered, grabbing hold of Supergirl and jumping up himself.

When the two landed on the next floor, they were met with Superboy's body being flung at them.

They all got up and stood their ground, in a proverbial Mexican stand-off with Blockbuster

The boys ran at the blue beast and began fighting with him, while Supergirl, now useless with her lack of powers, ran around them room, dodging debris, and trying to call her cousin on her comm system

"Hey Cal?" She asked, sidestepping a rock.

"Kara!? Where are you kids!?" Superman sounded angry.

"Uh, funny 'bout that..." She nervously chuckled.

Her cousin silently prompted her to tell the story

"Well, we're at Cadmus, and we _may_ need a smidgen of help-" she was cut off when Robin called out for her "hang in, sorry Cal, but duty calls" his protests were muted by Supergirl shutting down her comm.

"Listen, we need you to distract Blockbuster" Robin told her "what!? why!?" She was floored by his request of certain death.

Robin explained the plan, and she rolled her eyes, before leaping to action.

The heroes began taunting and mocking Blockbuster, leading him to crush, punch, and tackle vital structural pillars, causing the roof to loosen.

The coup-de-grab came when Robin drew a chalk + on the ground, and Aqualad made a water-slick in place. Kid Flash and Supergirl taunted Blockbuster onto the water, where he slipped along, until Superboy punched him in the face, causing the beast to land on it's back.

Aqualad stood in the water, and used his electrical powers to shock Blockbuster until incapacitated.

"Run" Robin ordered, before detonating the explosive discs he had placed around the room.

The roof of Cadmus exploded and collapsed onto Blockbuster and the heroes, leaving the entire building as a heap of smoking rubble.

The heroes stood from the debris, panting and coughing, their costumes torn as well as their bodies.

"We... did it" Aqualad gasped "was there... ever any doubt" Robin boasted.

"Dang it!" A voice cried from behind. They saw Supergirl standing, tying her shirt together with scrapes of her cape "this always happens" she complained, Kid Flash grinned at the comment.

"See, the moon" KF gestured upwards, where Superboy saw the moon shining brightly, until a figure flew in from above, Kara recognised it as her cousin

"Huh, and Superman, do we keep,our promises or what?" He grinned, Supergirl wasn't so happy, she knew they were all in deep trouble.

Suddenly the Man of Steel was joined by his Leaguer teammates... as in, _all _of them, from Both Green Lanterns to Zatara, the entire league had came to, in Supergirl's hunch, berate them for acting stupidly.

Superboy walked forward, and showed Superman the 'S' insignia on his solar-suit. Superman's expression went from surprised to hard, and his clone's from hopeful to angry.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked.

"He, not it" Supergirl scowled, moving to stand beside her kinda-cousin.

"I'm Superman's clone" he announced to the gathered heroes, all of which bore different expressions of confusion and shock.

"...start talking" Batman ordered, and the young heroes recounted their story in turns.

After they had finished, most of the league left, with the Green Lanterns, the hawk-couple, and Cpt. Atom taking Blockbuster with them to prison.

Superman stood off to the side deliberating with Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman on what action to take with Superboy.

Superman eventually walked over and turned to Superboy "we'll figure something out for you, the league... I mean" his nervous look made Supergirl scowl further "for now I-I better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away" suddenly taking on an air of sternness, he turned to his cousin, "and I expect to see _you _back at the farm soon" he ordered before flying off.

"Cadmus will be investigated," informed Batman as he and the other mentors approached "All fifty-two levels. But let's make one thing clear-"

"You should've called." Flash interrupted.

Batman gave him an infamous Bat-Glare and returned to addressing the proteges "And results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."

"I am sorry," Aqualad defied. "But we will."

"Aqualad, stand down," ordered his mentor.

"My apologies, my King, but no. We did good work here tonight. The work you've trained us to do. Together. On our own, we forged something powerful. Important."

"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the four of you–"

"The five of us," Kid Flash cut off Flash. "And it's not."

"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us," Robin pleaded.

"And it's time you treated us like equals" Supergirl glared.

"Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy said. "It's simple. Get on board, or get out of the way."

The five gave Batman a hard look, but he only turned and ordered Robin to follow, who promptly gave the others a thumbs-up.

"Well, now i'm outside, I think I can get enough rays to fly home" Supergirl told them "seeya guys" they waved at her and she flew off, returning momentarily to hug Superboy, before flying off again.

**Smallville  
****July 5, 02:23 EDT**

Supergirl arrived back on the Kent farm in a matter of seconds, her powers now at a comforatble level, and flew directly into her bedroom window. She quickly changed into some comfortable clothes and made her way downstairs, were she was met by her cousin, and adoptive aunt, Martha.

"Goodnight" she said, turning on her heel and making her way back to her room, only to be stopped by her Cousin

"Kara, what you did today was very irresponsible" she frowned, "you disobeyed orders, destroyed a whole building, you could've been killed" each comment made her head droop "and I couldn't be prouder" her head snapped up.

"If every one of us heroes acted like me or Batman, then a lot of criminals would go unpunished. But by disobeying the League, you saved many lives, and stopped what could have been a significant issue in the future"

She smiled at him "now, who would like some late dinner?" Asked Mrs. Kent, the two Kryptonians grinning and taking seats at the old dinner table.

**Mount Justice  
****July 8, 08:04 EDT**

Batman was explaining to the new team that the place they were in was Mount Justice, the League's old base before the Watchtower, located in Happy Harbour, Rhode Island.

As he did, various Leaguers moved about the base, installing or restoring equipment, and moving furniture around.

"Since your all so _eager _to remain a team, you'll do it on League terms," he explained. "Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" Asked Robin. The new team were all dressing in civvies, and Superboy even got a new black t-shirt with a red 'S' insignia.

"Yes," the Dark Knight replied. "But covert."

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff," Flash informed.

"But Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman said. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

"The six of you will be that team," Batman confirmed.

"Yes!" Supergirl fist-pumped "wait, six?"

Batman gestured behind them where Martian Manhunter stood with a shorter, female, red-head version of him.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman told them

"Hi," the new girl timidly greeted.

"I'm liking this gig more and more every minute," Kid Flash grinned "Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad, Superboy, and Supergirl. It's cool if you forget their names-" he was cut off when Supergirl smacked his head. Supergirl suddenly.

"Ignore Kid Idiot" the blonde said.

Robin laughed and approached the girls with the other boys. "Hey Superboy! Come meet Miss M!" He hailed.

Superboy came forward and Miss. M's flushed cheeks went darker, her white shirt going black "I like you're shirt" she told him.

"D'aww" Supergirl gushed at the two.

Aqualad looked at his new teammates "today's the day" he smiled, they nodded in agreement.


	3. Welcome to Happy Harbour

**Star City  
****July 17, 23:16 PDT**

it was very late at night in Star city, and Brick had his goons unloading _some _kind of illegal cargo own by the docks. But he wasn't counting on the intrusion of Star's newest independent hero, Speedy.

Two of the thugs were carrying a case of guns between them, when an arrow hit the ground below them with a thud, and burst into a thick cloud of smoke. They began coughing and spluttering, dropping the case in the process.

Brick pulled out a handgun and aimed it upwards, where the ex-sidekick watched from above.

"You again!" He shouted "i'm startin' to get insulted Green Arrow isn't messin' up my operations _himself."_

He fired, and Speedy dodged every one of the lasers. After a few dodges, the archer fired an explosive arrow at the large man, which detonated and tore his suit to shreds.

"You know how much I pay for a suit in my size?" Brick roared "scorch the earth boys" he muttered to his thugs, who nodded and pulled up their weapons, only for two to be tackled by a yellow blur, and the another pair to be hit by birdarangs, a familiar cackle filling the air.

Aqualad used his water-hilts to form whips so he could attack two more, and Supergirl froze the last ones to the ground with her breath, before kicking them in their faces.

Brick began throwing large rocks at Speedy, who dodged each to fire an explosive arrow at the large man. He replied with another rock.

Supergirl flew up and made the rock explode into dust using her heat-vision, Speedy firing a smoke arrow at Brick again.

"The cave is perfect" Aqualad told Speedy, hopping up to meet him.

"For covert missions, y'know, spy stuff" Robbin added, swinging over to them on a grapple hook.

"And wait till you see Superboy and Miss Martian! but I saw her first!" Kid Flash told them, sprinting over.

"You wish Kid Dingus" Supergirl rolled her eyes "but seriously, it's awesome" she told Speedy.

Brick interrupted by throwing yet another rock at them, which the Atlantean broke with some water-maces, followed by Speedy firing three explosive arrows at the villain to no success.

"Heh heh, tell Arrow he shouldn't send _boys _to do a _man's _job" he said, making the blonde alien scowl.

Speedy readied another arrow, and Brick goaded him to fire. He did, and soon Brock was smothered by a thick red foam.

"High-density polyurethane foam! Nice!" Complimented KF.

Speedy walked away without a word.

"So Speedy, you in?" Asked Robin.

"Pass" the archer told them "i'm done letting Arrow and the League tell me what to do. I don't need a babysitter or a clubhouse hangout with the other kids. Your junior Justice League is a joke. Something to keep you busy. And in your place" he stalked off "I don't want any part of it."

The boys stared at him helplessly "ass" Supergirl muttered.

**Mount Justice  
****July 18, 11:16 EDT**

"Recognised, Robin: B0-1, Kid Flash: B0-3" Robin and Kid Flash warped into the mountain, wearing civvies, and made their way towards the others who were watching a computer intently in their casual clothes.

"Did you ask him?" "What did he say?" They asked.

"He's arriving now" Aqualad told them.

"Then what are we waiting for!" The three boys ran off to greet Red Tornado, followed by the clone and aliens, the girls flying behind.

They exited the base to see a literal red tornado descending, which stopping whirring to become the hero, Red Tornado.

"RT!" Supergirl hailed, touching down finally.

"Greetings" he said "is there a reason you intercepted me outside the cave?" The automaton asked.

"We hoped you had a mission for us" Aqualad said.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility" the Leaguer told them.

"But it's been over a week and-" Robin was interrupted "you will be tested soon enough, for now enjoy each others company" Tornado told them.

"This team is not a social club" Aqualad argued "no, but I am told social interaction is a good team building exercise" RT replied "perhaps you can keep 'busy' by familiarising yourself with the cave."

"Keep busy" KF said "does he think we're falling for this!?" Robin exclaimed.

"Oh! I'll find out!" Miss M told them before focusing solely on Red Tornado's head.

"Recognised, Red Tornado: 1-6" the cabe's computer announced.

Miss M sighed in failure "I-I'm sorry, I keep forgetting he's a machine, inorganic" she told them "I, cannot read his mind."

"Nice try though" the redheaded human told her "so, uh, y'know what _i'm _thinking right now?"

"We _all _know what your'e thinking Kid Ass" Supergirl picked up the boy and placed him on the other side of herself.

"And now we tour the clubhouse" Aqualad said, albeit frustrated.

"Well, Superboy and I live here, we can play tour guides" the martian told them, turning to face the clone "don't look at me" he replied.

"We won't" Supergirl jumped at KF being between her and Miss M again "a private tour sounds much more fun" he smirked "she never said private" the speedster was once again picked up and moved.

"Team building" Aqualad told them "we'll all go."

Miss Martian led the way, with Robin and Supergirl simultaneously smacking Kid Flash on the back of the head.

"So, this would be our front door" she announced as they reentered the mountain.

"And this would be the back" she told them once they exited the rear of the cave.

"The cave is actually the entire mountain" she told them.

"It was hollowed out and reinforced by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League" Kid informed.

"Then why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy asked.

"The cave's secret location was... compromised. They needed to move on" Supergirl shrugged.

"So they traded it in for a tourist trap? Yeah, that makes sense" said the clone.

"If villains know of the cave, we must be constant alert!" Miss Martian began to worry, but was interrupted when Robin grabbed her arm.

"The bad guys know we know they know about the place so they'd never think to look here" he let out in one breath.

"Uh, he means, were hiding in plain sight" KF told her, pushing Robin off the girl's arm.

"Ah, that's much clearer" she didn't sound sincere.

Superboy sniffed the air for a moment "I smell smoke."

Miss M panicked "my cookies!" She flew off towards the kitchen, with Supergirl trailing behind.

The martian used her telepathy to open the oven, and remove a tray of black circles, placing them on the bench.

"I was trying out Granny Jones' recipe from episode 17 of- heh, never mind" the green girl said.

"I'm sure they would've tasted great!" Robin comforted "he doesn't seem to mind" they turned to face Kid Flash who was stuffing his face with the charred treats.

"I... have a serious... metabolism" he justified through a full mouth.

"I'll... make more?" The martian asked.

"It was sweet of you to make any" Aqualad told her.

"Thanks Aqualad" she replied.

"Please, were off duty, call me Kaldur'ahm, actually, my friends call me Kaldur" he smiled.

"Finally! A _real _name" shouted Supergirl with glee "i'm Kara Zor-El!" She stated proudly "Kara for short, and Linda Lang in public."

"I'm Wally" said the speedster, turning from the cookies for a moment "see I already trust you with my secret i.d" he boasted "unlike mister dark glasses over here" he gestured to Robin "Batman's forbidden Boy Wonder from telling _anyone _his real name."

"Mine's no secret, it's M'gann M'orzz" said the martian "but you can call me Megan, it's an earth name, and i'm on earth now" Supergirl found her cute in a little sister way.

Superboy began walking away when a voice stopped him _"don't worry Superboy" _it was Megan conversing telepathically _"we'll find you an Earth name too."_

"Get out of my head!" Shouted the clone.

_"What's wrong I-I don't understand" _she mentally pleaded _"everyone on Mars communicates telepathically" _the boys were all grabbing their heads in discomfort.

"M'gann, stop" Supergirl gently asked, she was less affected "on Earth, that's considered an invasion of privacy" she informed.

"Yeah, besides, Cadmus's creepy little psychic G-gnomes left a bad taste behind in his brain" Kid Flash said.

"I-I didn't mean to-" "Just. stay. out!" Superboy cut off the girl and walked away.

"Hello Megan, I know what we can do!" The martian flew off, with the boys in tow.

"C'mon S.B, join the team" Supergirl asked her kinda-cousin "i'm not in the mood" he replied.

After a moment, he buckled and followed too.

The team were led to the cave's hangar where Megan opened the doors to show them a... large red egg.

"Here it is!" the martian girl said "my martian bio-ship"

"Uh, it's cute" Kid Flash told her "not exactly aerodynamic, but cute"

"It's at rest silly, i'll wake it" Miss Martian used what they assumed to be her telepathy to 'wake up' the ship. Soon it morphed from it's original egg-shaped form into a sleek, red jet.

It spun around to face away from the heroes and it's rear hatch opened.

"Well, are you coming?" The girl asked.

"Oh-ho-ho, sweet!" Supergirl flew into the ship with glee, the boys following nervously.

When they reached the bridge, six chairs formed out of the floor, three by the control panel up front, two on either side, and one raised up between them, which was obviously the captain's seat.

Wally and Robin ran forward to sit on the left and right of the captain chair respectively.

Superboy sat in front of Robin, and Kaldur in front of Wally, and Megan and Kara took places in the middle seats, blonde up front.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors" Miss M said out loud, before flying out and around the sky a little.

"Incredible!" Robin said once the ship was well in the air "she sure is" Kid dreamily sighed "I-I mean the ship, which of course like _all_ ships, is a she."

"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth" Robin joked "dude!"

"I may not have psychic powers but I can guess what your thinking" Aqualad was slightly leaning over Kara to speak to Superboy "you overreacted, and you don't know how to apologise, just say sorry" Superboy looked away.

Behind them, the others were whispering "he'll come around" Robin assured Megan

"He doesn't seem to like me much" she told him.

"Y'know Kryptonians have super-hearing, right?" the blonde girl called out to behind her.

"Hey, how 'bout showin' us a little martian shapeshifting?" asked the Boy Wonder.

Miss M got up and transformed herself into a female version of Robin, and then Kid Flash.

"Is it wrong that I think i'm hot?" Asked the red head boy.

"Impressive" Robin applauded "but, you know you're not gonna fool anyone with those."

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder" the girl told him "well then do me" Supergirl asked.

"Woah" Wally was gawking at her "not like that Kid Dork!" The blonde yelled.

Miss Martian transformed into a perfect replica of Kara, from boots to cape.

"Now this I could get used to!" Wally grinned.

"Ew, go back now!" Both girls returned to their seats, Miss M now green once more.

"How did your clothes..." Kaldur trailed off.

"Their organic like the ship, they respond to my mental commands" the green girl told him "as long as they're the only ones" Superboy frowned.

A short but awkward silence followed, broken by KF asking a question "can you do that ghosting through walls thing that manhunter does?"

"Density shifting?" She asked "n-no, that's a very advanced technique."

"Flash can vibrate his molecules through walls, when he tries it? bloody nose" Robin broke into laughter at KF's expense.

"Yeah, and the first time I flew, I crashed a blimp" Supergirl supplied.

"Here's something I _can _do" they didn't feel different despite her comment "camouflage mode" she told them.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian" a voice rang over an intercom "an emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbour Power Plant, I suggest you investigate, covertly, i'm sending coordinates"

"Received, adjusting course"

"Red Tornado's keeping us busy again" Rob complained

"Well, a simple fire led you to Superboy" Miss M pointed out "we should investigate the cause of the emergency

Superboy looked out the window to his right "I think I found the cause" a large tornado was tearing it's way through the power plant parking lot, towards the ship.

As the team panicked, M'gann struggled to regain control of the ship, but in the end managed, and set it down nearby as the tornado began moving away.

The floor of the ship opened, and the team dropped out, witnessing the destruction and panic the whirlwind was causing.

"Rob, how often do tornados hit New England?" Supergirl asked, but received no reply. Robin had pulled his disappearing act and left them with his signature cackle filling the air.

Superboy was first into the main building where Robin had just been swatted aside by the tornado's cause.

It was a large robot with red and black metal plating, blue tubes wrapping around his back and arms, and a beige scarf wrapped around his neck, or where it _would _be.

"Whose your new friend?" The clone asked, landing next to the downed boy.

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kinda rough!" Robin told him.

"My apologies," the large man said. "You may address me as Mister Twister."

Supergirl flew into the building just in time to catch her kinda-cousin as he was tossed at her, causing the pair to be thrown into the wall, leaving a large dent.

Wally, Kaldur and Megan ran in and directly at Mister Twister, where the speedster pulled on his goggles and was thrown outside, while the other to were thrown into support beams.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a superhero," Twister said. "I was not, however, expecting children."

"We're. Not. Kids!" Supergirl roared and flew at him, grabbing onto his arm, and pulling on it hard. He grabbed her with his other hand, and tossed her up, before backhanding her away, and into Superboy.

"Obviously you are," Twister hoasted. "Have you any adult supervision? I find your presence here quite disturbing."

"Well we hate to see you disturbed," Robin said "Let's see if you're more turbed once we kick your can!" Robin cried.

Megan used her powers to cause a distraction, which Superboy ised to his advantage, only to be blasted away into Miss M. Aqualad and Robin ran at Mr. twister, but were stopped with a pair of small tornados, and were thrown into each other.

Supergirl zoomed forward and into the mechanical menace. He tried to throw a mini-tornado at her, only for the girl to inhale it, and exhale it back out at him. She flew forward one again but was hit with a smack to her torso, sending her skidding across the floor.

The blonde girl ran outside to find her teammates watching Wally be thrown around in a small tornado.

"I got you, Wally!" M'gann yelled, gently lowering him with her powers.

"I would've thought you all would've learned your limitations by now," The large villain taunted.

"What do you want?!" Aqualad shouted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Twister said. "I'm waiting for a real hero."

"I'm _this _close to tearing his head off!" Kara growled.

"Head, of course! Read his mind and find a weakness," Kaldur ordered Megan.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that!"

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Robin yelled.

The girl narrowed her a moment before. "Nothing! I'm getting nothing!" Then it hit her. "Hello, Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise! He's inorganic! An android! And how many androids do you know that can generate tornados!?"

The team, exasperated, walked forward and told him they knew who he was, and to end this.

"Consider it ended" Mr. Twister stated ominously, before raising his arms and summoning a strom greater than anything Red Tornado ever had.

"An impressive show, but we _will not _engage" Kaldur shouted

Soon, electricity began to generate in the storm.

"Uh… can Red Tornado do that?" Wally asked.

"You think I'm Tornado? Ironic."

He used the electricity to create a large explosion, knocking back all but the two kryptonians who shrugged off their burnt and torn jackets.

The two supers leapt at their opponent, Superboy merely being swatted down, but Supergirl managed to dig her fingers into his chest, when her x-ray vision picked up something odd inside the robot.

Twister grabbed the girl between both hands, and started zapping her with hundreds of volts of electricity, before throwing her down to ground below.

Moments later, the team got up from where they had landed

"What happened?" Wally asked.

"I placed the Bio-Ship between us," M'gann told him.

Superboy crushed a nearby rock and rounded on Miss Martian. "And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado!"

"It was an accident." Defended Supergirl "now I don't know what happened to your psychic powers, but my x-ray vision picked up someone _inside _Mr. T"

"It was a rookie mistake," Dick said.

"We shouldn't have listened." Kaldur told them

"You are pretty inexperienced. Hit the showers. We'll take it from here." And then the boys ran off towards where Mr. Twister left towards.

"Stay out of our way," Superboy warned. He then followed them.

"What do they know" Miss M was startled by her only female friend's voice "S.B was only woken up a couple of weeks ago, and _your _inexperienced? C'mon, we'll take your ship back and enlist Tornado's help with this."

"Okay, and... thanks" Megan shyly said "no problem, us aliens gotta stick together"

The two girls walk onto the ship and begin flying back to the mountain, with M'gann calling up Red Tornado to plea for his help.

"Please, we can't handle him our-" Megan was cut off by Supergirl ending the call

"Wait!" She said with glee "iv'e got a plan. Think about Twister's desire to battle a _real _hero..." The girl continued her explanation and then had Megan use her telepathy to speak to the boys.

_"Listen to me,"_ The martian said. _"All of you."_

_"What did we tell you?!"_ Superboy yelled back.

_"I know!"_ M'gann replied. _"And I know I messed up. But now Kara and I are very clear on what to do. Please, trust me!"_

The girls both relayed Kara's plan to them.

But a few seconds later, Red Tornado flew out to confront Tornado "Hit the showers, boys. I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now!" Robin protested.

"The subject is not up for debate," Red Tornado cut him team walked away

"I was beginning to believe you'd _never_ show up" goaded Twister "i'm here _now" _Tornado said

Red Tornado and Mister Twister began to fight, exchanging air blasts and tornados, but when Twister used a bolt of electricity to explode a nearby boat, and Tornado was caught in the explosion, it was over.

"Remain still, android" small red cables came out of Twister's fingers and attached to Tornado's head "reprogramming wont take long"

Suddenly, Tornado tore the wires of and his head morphed into Miss Martians "longer than you might think" and that was their cue

A tornado made up by Wally super-speed-spinning and Kara using her super-breath, knocked Tornado away into Superboy, who broke off some metal plating, and threw the robot into the sea.

Aqualad, while underwater, electrically charged the anchor he held, and smacked Twister out, into the air, where Megan used her telepathy to blast off more plating, and an arm, followed by several explosive birdarangs which blew off his other arm, and sent the villain crashing into the ground.

Twister sat up, his chest cabinet opened and the small man fell out. "Foul, I-I call foul," he said.

Nobody said anything, but Megan levatated a large rock, and made it hover above the man

"M'gann, no!" Aqualad tried to tell her, but not quick enough as she ended up smooshing the man with the boulder.

Robin looked angry "Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't execute our captives!" he yelled.

"Not a trusting bunch, are we?" Asked Supergirl as she kicked the rock away, revealing the man to be another android within Twister.

"That's why I couldn't read his mind." The martian told them.

Kid Flash picked up a robotic eyeball "Cool. Souvenir."

"We should've had more faith in you, like Kara" the Kryptonian grinned.

"Yeah!" Wally agreed. "You rocked this mission! Get it, rocked?"

"We're all just turbed you're on the team." Robin told the martian girl.

**Mount Justice  
****July 1****8****, ****22:34**** EDT**

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur told Red Tornado

The team and their caretaker were surveying the remains of Twister's pilot.

"Agreed".

"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked.

"No," Red Tornado said. "This was your battle. I do not believe it is not my role to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me. Consider this matter closed."

"Batman, Aquaman, Superman and Flash. They'd have jumped right in to fix things," Wally complained.

"Guess if we're gonna have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need," said Robin

"Dude, harsh," said the speedster.

"And inaccurate," Red Tornado said. "I have a heart. Carbon-steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing." Kara held in a laugh, barely,

"Right. Sorry. I'll strive to be more accurate." Said the Boy Wonder

"And more respectful," Kaldur corrected.

"Y'know, Speedy was wrong." Kid Flash said

"This team thing…" Robin began.

"Might just work out," Kaldur agreed.

As they left the room, Miss M and Superboy behind them, Kara picked up on the clone's voice with her super-hearing, and it put a wide smile on her face

"Sorry."


	4. Drop-Zone

**Caribbean Sea  
****July 22, 20:08 ECT**

The team were flying towards Santa Prisca in Megan's bio-ship, fully uniformed and stoically silent.

Batman had finally given them their first _real _mission, and it was to covertly do some recon on a factory where Venom, the infamous super-steroid, was being developed.

When asked who would be leading the operation, Batman said _they _had to decide, and it was a tough decision to make.

Miss Martian and Superboy were easily ruled out as they were new to the hero deal, and Kid Flash, while experienced, lacked the maturity to be a leader.

Supergirl, being the eldest and having been trained in all kind of combat on Krypton, Earth, Themyscira _and _Apokolips, had the necessary training to lead, but was still fairly new to Earth herself.

Aqualad, however, was a constant source of calmness and maturity, and would often mediate the immaturity of the others, but could he be _too _nice, after all, door mats can't lead.

And Robin had been trained for years by Batman, who had instilled complete cardinal values of justice and fairness into his protege, but Robin was still young, and his pseudo-title was evidence of this. The _Boy _Wonder, didn't exactly scream leader.

All three had qualifications, but who had the _best _qualifications?

"Guys" Supergirl suddenly spoke, "I see the island"

"Drop-Zone A in thirty," Miss Martian confirmed.

"Ready," Aqualad and Kara chorused. They each stood and pressed small buttons on their belts, which turned their costumes black and grey, Supergirl's cape now off for transport purposes "I don't know why I wear that _anyway_." She said.

The two jumped out of the ship as it flew low over the water, and dived into the ocean as Kaldur didn't need to breath while underwater, and Kara could hold her breath indefinitely.

They swam towards the island, avoiding mines floating in the water, and came to a net of sorts, which Kaldur easily cut using a water blade.

They swam up to the shore and quickly placed a hacking device into a piece of machinery. "Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." The Atlantean called over his comm.

The pair began making their way through the jungle, with Supergirl using her enhanced vision to keep an eye out for hostiles.

When a voice crackled over their comms, telling them that the others had reached their drop point, the pair stopped.

"Head for the factory," Aqualad told the others. "I'll check your GPS and rendezvous ASAP."

"So, Kaldur, any thoughts on a suitable team leader?" Asked Kara

"Maybe later, but for now we should focus" he told her, the girl nodded in agreement.

The sound of gunfire cutting through the jungle drew their attention, and they ran towards the source, along the trees for stealth's sake.

"So much for covert" Supergirl muttered as they came across a swampy clearing where the others had just knocked out several armed goons. Superboy stood over an unconscious Bane.

Suddenly, two armed men ran at them, wearing red robes that looked like cobra heads.

Kaldur jumped down in front of one and shocked him, crushing the man's gun.

Kara flew down to the other and froze his gun and hands together, before uppercutting him away. Both gave pointed looks, and tied up the downed thugs to trees.

"I recognise these uniforms," said Robin, gesturing to the red robed men "They belong to the Cult of the Kobra."

"I am certain Batman would've mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom Operation," Aqualad said, looking down at me.

"Agreed," Robin nodded. "And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultist and those goons, I'm betting Kobra came in and tossed them out! That's why normal supply lines have been cut off!"

"We get it. Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for-"

"These cultists aren't on venom," Said Robin. "Kobra's hoarding this stuff."

"We don't leave," Robin said. "Not until I know why."

"Until _you_ know why?" Kid Flash exclaimed.

"This team needs a leader," Robin retorted.

"And it's you?" Kid Flash pointed. "Dude, you're a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word!"

Robin laughed. "And you're mature at fifteen?! You blew our cover first chance you got!"

"Don't you want to be leader?" Miss Martian asked Superboy.

He shook his head "no, you?" "After the Mister Twister incident?" "You did alright" she blushed at his compliment.

"You don't even have super powers" Kid Flash said

"No, but _I_ do, and at nineteen, i'm the oldest, _ignoring _the other nineteen years I spent trapped in a worm hole. Plus I have the best combat training, and i'm _blood related _to the one of the League's heads"

"Oh, that's _so_ modest-" Robin was cut off by Bane chuckling to himself

"Such clever, niños," he laughed. "But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest. Get you into the factory, via my secret entrance."

"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something," Miss Martian knelt down and focused her telepathy on him.

"Ah, ah, ah, chica. Bane is not that easy."

Miss Martian let out a frustrated groan. "He's mentally reciting football scores and Español. This could take a while."

"No time" Kara pushed forward and knelt to face to face with the man.

"Dinos dónde ir, y podemos llegar a un acuerdo" she said

**(****Tell us where to go, and we can strike a deal****)**

"...Muy bien, sin duda, el Bat tratará de arrestarme, pero, se puede siempre ... me perder" The man replied **(...****Very well, no doubt the Bat will try to arrest me, but****,**** you could always... lose me****)**

"...trato, lo juro por la vida de Niños flashes" the girl ended and stood up "let's go" she burnt off his bindings using her laser vision.

**(...****deal, I swear on Kid flashes life****)**

"Dude, how'd you _do _that" Wally was in awe.

"I learnt English within a week of arriving on Earth, and everything else within a month." She smirked, "leader material."

Bane led the way to a cliff that overlooked the compound and pointed ahead. Supergirl used her enhanced vision, and Robin a pair of binoculars to scope the place.

"Someone's buying, but it's not going to the usual suspects." Robin said.

"We need to identify that buyer," Aqualad said.

Kid Flash pushed up his goggles. "Just what I was thinking."

"Yeah!" Robin laughed. "You're the thinker!"

"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would be focused on getting answers."

Behind them, Bane moved a large rock to reveal an open mine shaft "Answers are this way."

"So! Now El Luchador is our leader!" Complained Kid Flash, who Kara smacked on the head as she passed.

The team followed Bane into the factory where Robin pulled his disappearing act again.

"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked "no, he does this a lot" Supergirl told him

"Stay put. I'll get get our intel and be back _before _Boy Wonder" Kidd Flash speed ahead of them, ignoring Kaldur's protests "great chain of command" the large man chuckled.

The remaining heroes followed Bane outside where Cobra soldiers were moving crates of VENOM around on forklifts.

"It's a massive shipment!" Aqualad commented "yeah but their only taking _new _product off the line. Their not touching _this _VENOM" said Superboy.

"Maybe, freshness counts?" Miss Martian guessed

"Or, they're screwing with the formula to create a _new _chemical compound" Supergirl frowned.

"Helicopter coming" they looked up to where a dark green helicopter was approaching the facility.

"Miss M, fly up there and survey the deal, then send Aqualad a telepathic image of the buyer." Miss Martian nodded and flew off, turning invisible as she went.

"Boys, Bane, we'll hide out in there, and hopefully we can get the drop on the shipment" Kara nodded to the warehouse, where the three heroes and their temporary ally hid in the rafters of the building.

After a moment Kaldur closed his eyes, and then opened them "Sportsmaster, he is the buyer?" The boy said

"Supergirl to Red Tornado, read me?" The girl placed a hand to her ear where the comm was, but received static "comm's jammed, we're not getting help, from _anyone"_

"We need a plan, _now" _Aqualad said "I have a suggestion" Bane said, before leaping off the scaffolded rafters, down to the ground below where he startled two Cobra guards into firing their weapons.

"What is he-" Aqualad was cut off when a hulking brutish beast jumped through the window behind them, and crushed the scaffold p, forcing them to land on the ground.

The figure was bigger than bane, and was so muscled that it looked like his skin had torn to reveal the muscle underneath.

"Destroy them!" Ordered a raspy voice from behind him... it, and the hulking beast charged them, with the two supers meeting him head on, and colliding.

The beast picked Superboy up and threw him into Kara, sending them careening across the warehouse, until the blonde stopped them, and readies herself into another combat position.

The beast ran at them again, and eneded up being tackled by the clone into a nearby VENOM brewing vat.

The supers were strong, but this guy had something better on his side, and Kara felt that full force when he grabbed her, and threw began smashing her into the floor, until Superboy tackled him off, and the two began sparring again.

Around the room, the others were dealing with their own problems. Aqualad and Kid Flash were under fire from several Cobra solsiers, and Megan had been hit with an explosive javelin thrown by Sportsmaster. Robin was nowhere to be found.

Kara ran at the beast fighting her kinda-cousin, but he just threw her away an towards Superoby, where the overheard Aqualad shouting about Megan using her telepathy as a comm system.

_"Everyone online" _a voice asked in their heads _"yeah" "you know it beautiful" "i'm all ears... brains" _were the replies Superboy, Kid Flash and Supergirl gave.

_"Good, then we need to regroup" _Aqualad ordered _"busy now!"_ Robin said.

Superboy continued to fight the hulking beast, but Supergirl moved on to attack incoming Cobra soldiers, while simultaniously using her body as a bullet-proof shield for Kaldur, as he marched forward to fight _"Robin, now!" _Ordered the Atlantean.

_"We need to retreat, Kid, clear a path"_ the boy said. Wally sprinted ahead and knocked over several Cobra cultists on their way to the door they entered from, where they ran into the mine, and Superboy closed the metal door shut behind them.

It was broken down, however, as the beast and some guards came running in "Superboy, the support beams!" Aqualad said.

The clone knocked some of the beams out, causing the mine to cave in behind them, blocking of the Cobra enemies.

Aqualad pulled out and cracked a glow stick, bathing the team in red light.

"How can my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin lamented.

"You do have the most experience, but perhaps that is exactly what has left you so unprepared" Kaldur reasoned.

"Fighting alongside Batman your roles are... defined, you do not need to talk, but this team is new, and a leader must be clear, explicit, he cannot vanish and expect others to play a role in an unknown plan."

"Oh, so I_'m _supposed to hold everyone's hands" Robin growled "ah who am I kidding? You should lead us Kaldur, you're the only one who can."

"Please, I can run circles-" "Wally c'mon" Robin intervened "you know he's the one, we all do"

"Hello Megan, it's so obvious" "coulda told ya" the two newest heroes agreed.

"Yeah, i'm down" Kara winked.

"...okay" Wally smiled too, and Kaldur walked forward to place a hand on robin's shoulder "Then I accept this role until you are ready to lift this burden off my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon."

"Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island" Aqualad told them "funny, I had the same thought" Robin agreed.

The six began running back up the mine shaft to the entrance "If Sportsmaster is the supplier-slash-buyer, that still doesn't make sense. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula or get Kobra to do his dirty work," Robin said while reading off a hologram from his glove.

"Neither have the chops to blend Blockbuster with Venom either," Kid Flash agreed "That took some major nerdage."

"I believe the expression is…" Aqualad said, coming to a stop, "tip of the iceberg."

Bane stood ahead of them holding a small detonator "Halt, niños," he said. "I'm feeling, _explosive_." They looked up and saw several mines paced on the roof above the,

"You betrayed us!" Aqualad exclaimed, but Supergirl ducked her head.

"Not so much" the man nodded his head toward the girl, and her teammates gasped

"We- we struck a deal, I-I'm sorry" she felt dreadful.

"We'll discuss your decision later, but if Supergirl was going to free you anyway, why do this?" Aqualad asked.

Bane explained his plan of using the team's possible deaths as a means to clear the island of Cobra so he could reclaim the VENOM factory, and ended it by going to detonate the bombs, but Kid Flash had already swiped it.

"With what, this little trigger-thingy?" The boy taunted

Bane went to hit him, but was stopped and lifted into the air by Megan's powers

"Finally, drop him" Superboy said, and soon Bane was dropped into the clone's waiting fist.

"Really Kara, what made you think freeing a _bad guy_ was the right thing to do!?" Robin exclaimed, the girl was feeling worse and worse by the minute, as she had never meant to get them in such trouble.

"I-I know, I screwed up" she said barely over a whisper.

Kaldur gently rested a hand on her shoulder "we all make mistakes. You did what you thought would help at the time, it is okay" she smiled up him.

"Let's stop that shipment."

**Santa Prisca  
****July 22, 2****3****:****14 ****ECT**

Sportsmaster had acquired all the Blockbuster-Venom he needed and was making his way to the helicopter when he was stopped by black and red blur knocking out several Cobra guards.

Suddenly, Superboy jumped down to the ground by the chopper, and the beast-man from earlier growled "go again?" The clone taunted, and the beast ran forward with som Cobra soldiers, only for his backup to be blasted away by a black and gold blur, and the beast-man to be blasted away by a powerful stream of water.

Supergirl, dropping the Cobra guards she had attacked, redirected her flight to knock the beast-man away, now that Aqualad's water stream was electrified, leaving the man vulnerable. The girl connected with him at full speed, sending him flying into a thick tree by the edge of the jungle.

An explosion rocked the skies above them, as Sportsmaster's helicopter had been rigged with Bane's mines, which sen the vehicle falling out of the sky, and into the Venom factory below.

Supergirl noticed that the cult leader, Kobra, had robin on the ground, pressing into his chest with a boot. She flew down to help.

"I am surrounded by mosquitoes" the cultist said, "mosquitoes?" A feminine voice filled his ears "think bigger" and a black boot connected with his chest, sending the man flying into a tree by the jungle's edge, and the team gathered to face him off.

He pushed himself of the tree trunk "another time then..." And he backed of into the jungle, blending with the trees and underbrush.

"Damn it! He got away." Supergirl frowned

"Well, at least we picked the right guy to lead" Robin smiled "Automatically making _you _the right guy to explain this to Batman!" Robin cackled and Aqualad looked nervous.

**Mount Justice  
****July 23, 10:00 EDT**

The team were lined up inside their base, with Batman berating them on the _monumental _failure of their recon mission.

"A simple recon mission, observe and report. You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. Until then… good job." They looked at him in shock

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads… determines character." He told them, addressing their _monumental _success of foiling the villain's plans.

The team shared a look of happiness, and in Kara's case, relief that Batman hadn't brought up her attempt to negotiate with a internationally known super-criminal.

Never again, she promised herself.

**A/N yup, the whole speaking to Bane in Spanish part was done with literally no knowledge of the Spanish language, so I'm ninety percent sure the grammar is incorrect.**


	5. Schooled

**A/N ****Now, thanks for all of the feedback, and the reason Kara doesn't use some powers to stop certain villains, is because she is, frankly, over-powered, so to combat that I try to limit her use of powers, and I like to reason that because she's still fairly new to Earth and a yellow sun environment, she hasn't quite mastered her abilities, and only uses a select few, some of them not very often.**

**Metropolis  
****August 3, 07:38 EDT**

What had began as a seemingly normal day for the citizens of Metropolis, almost took a turn for the worst, when a two heavy support cables detached from a bridge, causing a massive pileup, where a school bus was left dangling precariously on the edge of the bridge, and the bridge itself almost collapsing.

The people were saved, however, when the bridge was lifted from underneath by Superman, who used his laser vision to seal the cracks in the concrete.

Superboy, not to be left out, began leaping along the support towers of the bridge, and landed onto the road itself, where the impact almost caused the bridge to break worse than it already was.

"I got it" a voice spoke, and Supergirl flew up to help her cousin in lifting the bridge back into place. They sealed it, and exited out from under to see Superboy struggling to pull a school bus back to safety, until the Man of Steel lifted it himself with ease, and placed it onto the bridge.

"I had that" Superboy scowled.

"Oh look at the time, gotta go!" Kara hated it when these moments took place, as she had long ago quit bothering to convince Kal to accept his clone.

As she flew away, she noticed Bruce Wayne looking out over the bridge, watching the events with an unusual amount of curiosity for a bystander.

**Mount Justice  
****August 3, 12:15 EDT**

"Recognised: Supergirl, B0-4"

Supergirl entered the cave and found all of her team, excluding Superboy, gathered around the t.v. It was showing footage of the three supers at the bridge, and they were all so engrossed in it, none of them noticed the blonde for a moment.

"Okay, don't _all _of you get up to greet me" the girl sarcastically remarked.

Instantly, all heads turned and Megan flew over pull her friend into a hug "Kara, how's things?" Asked Wally who got up to speak to her.

"Good, but they'd be _better_ if Kal actually accepted his clone with love for once," she huffed and collapsed onto the couch.

"Why are you all here?" She suddenly noticed.

"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash told us to wait in the cave, we don't know why" Robin supplied "good thing you decided to come for some R &amp; R, because it seems Big Supey didn't tell _you"_ Wally commented.

"Probably too busy ignoring S.B." The blonde muttered "soeaking of R &amp; R, Wally, wanna get your butt beat at some holo-hockey?" She smirked, getting up off the couch again**.**

"You are _so _on" the two ran out and opened up the holographic hockey table, where the others gathered round and watched, or rather attempted to, as Kara and Wally used their combined super speed to play.

After several rounds, most of which were to fast to observe, the cave's zeta tube exit began whizzing "recognised: Superboy, B0-5"

Superboy stalked past the group with a scowl on his face "so S.B, how did it go?" Kara asked. He ignored her.

A voice cleared their throat from a nearby darker area "ready for training everyone?" It was Black Canary as she and Martian Manhunter entered the ops area.

"Black Canary. Uncle J'onn!" Megan walked forward and embraced her uncle.

"M'gann, I was... in the neighbourhood, so I thought i'd see how you were adjusting" he told her

"A few bumps, but, i'm learning" she made it a point to gestured at Kara, who had taken it upon herself to teach Megan how to act on Earth, despite her own inexperience with the planet.

"That's all I can ask" the older Martian said.

"Stick around" Canary called out to Superboy, how was walking away "class is in session"

She walked to the centre of the room and the floor lit up in some kind of practise program

"I consider it an honour to be your teacher, i'll throw a lot at you" the woman pulled her jacket off "everything I learned from my own mentors-" she grunted and cringed at the injury on her arm being stressed "-and my own bruises"

"What happened?" M'gann seemed concerned

"The job" replied the Leaguer "Now, combat is about controlling conflict. Putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner."

"Right here!" Wally raised his hand. "Yeah!" The boy stepped forward and finished off the banana he had been eating "After this…" he tossed the peel away in a basketball-like fashion. "Swish. I'll show you my moves." the speedster grinned.

Black Canary smirked and swung at the teen's head but he blocked. While he was distracted with her arms, she swung a leg out, and swept his feet out from under him, leaving the teen lying on the ground, dazed, with a status indicator on the floor stating his spar was a 'FAIL' in red letters

"Ugh…" Wally groaned "hurts so good."

"Good block," Canary lifted him up. "But did anyone see what he did wrong?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Robin raised a hand in anticipation. "He hit on teacher and got served?!"

"Dude!" Wally cried.

"He let _you _dictate the terms" Supergirl said, thinking back to her words from all of two seconds ago.

The woman nodded "exactley, now-"

"Oh please" everyone turned to Superboy "with my powers the battle's _always _on my terms" he said "i'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time" he turned to leave but was stopped "prove it"

Superboy turned again to face Black Canary's challenge "how 'bout against someone with your... talents" she jabbed a thumb in Kara's direction, who shrugged, pulled her cape off, and stepped in the centre of the lit circle.

The two cousins stepped up to one another, with their combat mentor stepping away, and readied into combat stances.

Superboy was the first to strike, as he threw a punch directly at Kara's face, which the girl dodged and countered with a series of quick strikes to his abdomen, sending him back a few steps.

Annoyed, the clone ran forward intending to hit the girl with a shoulder-check, but she ducked down, grabbed him by his own shoulder, and swept his legs out, causing him to land on his face.

"You're angry, good, channel it" Canary noted from the sidelines.

Robin began to laugh, but was silenced by Kaldur elbowing him in the ribs. Superboy got back up and ran at his opponent, enraged, before throwing punch after punch at her, each one side-stepped, until the girl blocked his last, and kicked him him gut, forcing him bend over, where she once again swept his legs out, and hit him with an uppercut, leaving the clone flat on his back. This time, Robin stifled his laugh with a hand.

"That's it!" Superboy smacked Kara's offer of help away, and stood up himself "i'm done"

Canary stepped forward "training is mandatory" she told him.

Suddenly, a holographic image of Batman appeared of to the side.

"Batman to the Cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary," he reported, and an image of a man appeared, he had cropped orange hair, and only wore green pants. "The attacker was capable of studying then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant." The video showed the man swinging Superman around like a club, and knocking away several leaguers, before using Kryptonian laser vision to explode two batarangs.

"Whoa…" Wally was stunned. "One guy with the powers of the entire League?"

"In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android?" Robin question. "Who made it? T.O. Morrow?"

"Good guess, Robin," Batman replied. "But Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bears the signature of... Professor Ivo," Martian Manhunter spoke up.

"Ivo?" Aqualad was shocked "but Ivo's dead"

Black Canary looked down at me. "so we all thought… or hoped."

"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralised, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate STAR Lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation," Batman explained. A holographic map showed the truck's travel plans. "Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes! Road trip!" Wally grinned.

"So now we take out your trash?" Superboy glared.

"You had something better to do?" Batman retorted. A device that Aqualad was holding beeped "coordinates received" the team left to the hanger where six motorbikes were waiting for them, with matching jumpsuits and helmets.

**Lichfield County  
****August 3, 20:08 EDT**

The team had made it to the pick-up zone, and were waiting behind a natural wall of trees and shrubs on their motorbikes, as S.T.A.R labs guards and Leaguers prepared the six trucks for travel.

When the trucks left the zone, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash followed the Boston group, and the others went south to New York.

It was several miles later that Robin began discussing the use of prefixes with his teammates

"If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster?" He asked "so instead of thing going wrong, they go right."

When neither replied he frowned "uh, clearly you guys aren't feeling the aster, what's wrong?"

"Canary" Superboy spoke up "what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength" he complained

"Same business she has teaching me" the girl present answered "look, taking down guys bigger than you is a cornerstone of hero work. Canary learned that the hard way, same as Batman, Superman... even Rob and I" she thought back to the time she fought Darkseid himself, only months after she arrived on Earth.

The corn fields on either side of the road began to rustle, and out of them came dozens of small black and green robotic monkeys, which swarmed the truck.

"Robin, Superboy, Supergirl. Our truck is under attack!" Aqualad's voice rang through their comms, indicating they too were being harassed by monkeys.

"Kinda figured" Robin retorted.

"I hate monkeys" Superboy growled.

"Robot monkeys?!" Kara exclaimed "totally Ivo's tweak style!" Robin agreed. The two put their bikes into battle mode, where the back wheels turned into flying drones, and advised Superboy to do the same.

"No point" he said, and jumped off his bike, causing the ithers to have to do the same, as it crashed into them.

Supergirl ditched her helmet and flew over to deal with the monkeys on the truck's windshield. Startling the driver spas her body hit the hood with a thud.

She began prying monkeys of the truck and herself, tearing them apart, and firing lasers at others.

She was shocked from her job when the truck began to swerve wildly, almost causing the girl to fall off, she jumped onto the box of the truck, where Superboy and Robin were fending off monkeys around a hole in the truck.

Knowing that the vehicle was about crash, Supergirl swung down to dangle on the side of the truck, where she tore the driver's door off, pulled the man out, and jumped off into the cornfields, just capsized and rolled onto it's roof several metres away.

The back of it burst open, and several Ivo monkeys flew out, carrying the box with the android parts in it.

Superboy, seeing this, began jumping after them, and seeing her cousin leaving, Kara immediately followed, leaving Robin alone to deal with the mess.

"Aqualad to Supergirl, do you read?" A voice called over her comm "loud and clear Aqualad, i'm following the parts with-" "good" the leader cut off "turn back so we can regroup" Supergirl looked ahead to Superboy as he leapt after the monkeys "Sorry Kaldur" and pulled out her comm, throwing it to the ground.

**Gotham City  
****August 3, 21:21 EDT**

The two supers followed the monkeys to a train that was just pulling into Gotham, and seeing which cart they flew into, the pair landed onto it with a thud, before tearing open a hole, and dropping in, were they saw a weedy looking man in an older looking suit, surrounded by robo-monkeys.

"Oh hello" the man said

"You? You're Ivo?" Superboy was unimpressed "we're whelmed" Kara crossed her arms.

"You're a pair to talk, now since when does the big blue boy scout have brats?" He mocked

"He doesn't" the clone growled "and were _not brats"_ Supergirl scowled.

"Eh, if you say so." He shrugged "have you met my Mobile Opt-"

"Yeah, yeah. An acronym for monkey, _real _clever" Kara rolled her eyes, getting into a worse and worse mood with the man.

A group of them flew forward and attacked the pair, who began tearing through them with ease.

After disposing the Monqis, a robotic voice spoke "accessing: Captain Atom" and beams akin to said hero's powers blasted them to the other end of the cart.

"Since Professor Ivo's magnificent Monqis don't float your boat" the fully built android from the trucks stepped forward "perhaps my amazing Amazo with better suit you, or better slay you."

"Gimme your best shot" Superboy taunted

Ivo's monqis began laughing, almost mockingly, as the professor spoke up "please, my android has the strength of Superman, what chance do you have?" The man taunted

This angered the clone, as he ran ahead and began striking Amazo wherever he could, only for the android to parry every hit, and eventually subdue the boy with a crushing grip on one fist.

Supergirl ran forward with the intent that two would beat one, but was quickly stopped when the android grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall beside itself.

"Oh sorry, did that strike a nerve?" Asked Ivo "Amazo, strike a few more" and the android complied, by throwing and smacking the boy all around the train car, without even letting go of the girl he had.

Once Superboy got back up, the android threw his cousin at him, who was left coughing and spluttering all over the ground "can... breath in space, but... god forbid I... be... strangled"

Amazo spoke again "accessing: Black Canary" and it's jaw opened up to use the woman' signature Canary Cry against the two, which blasted them to the other end of the car again.

"Access: Flash" and with his powers, the android sped up,and beat the tow down easily.

"Aww, no wonder daddy keeps you hidden away. You not really doing justice to the old 'S' shield, are you?" He taunted.

He didn't get the expected reaction "you can call my _cousin_, a boy scout. You can insult our combat skill. But _nobody _disrespects _my _family crest" Kara growled and threw a punch at Amazo, but the android reacted quickly "Martian Manhunter" and it became intangible, before throwing the two through the wall of the car.

"Access: Superman" and than Amazo picked up the two, and using Superman's strength, knocked them away, with Superboy going further into the city, and Supergirl careening towards the highway into Gotham, where she impacted the road just a ways ahead of Kid Flash and Robin

"Woah" they stopped and helped their teammate up

"Kid, Rob, School, Now" she said

"Yeah, we know" the three sped up on their way to Gotham Academy to save Superboy from Amazo

"Okay, so, Amazo is back in one piece, Ivo is a _total_ wacko, and the bot totally has the League's powers" Kara summed up

"And now him and Supey are havin' a grudge match in Rob's school?" Wally asked

"pretty much"

When they made to Gotham Academy, Amazo was battling Superboy in the gym, with Ivo watching from the bleachers.

Kid Flash sped in and pulled Superboy away before the android could hit him again.

Robin threw some batarangs and Kara fired a short burst of lasers at the android "Martian Manhunter," it announced, and the projectiles flew through him and exploded on the other side of the gym

"Access: Red Tornado." It's lower body spun like red tornado, and the android charged, knocking the teens away.

"Access: Captain Atom." It levelled it's palm at KF, who was tackled to safety by Kara just as the android fired.

"Access: Black Canary." It said as the two, now back on their feet, sprinted at Amazo. The force of the cry throwing them back

"Superman" Amazo countered more swings from Superboy, before throwing him away and into the bleachers.

"Martian Manhunter" more batarangs flew through the android, which used an extendable arm like a whip, smashing the ground, just barely missing the teens.

"Superman" Amazo grabbed KF in a bear hug and began crushing his ribcage "Martian Manhunter" the android turned intangible, letting Kid fall to the floor, as an arrow flew from above, through the robot, and into the floor by Robin.

"Access: Supergirl" Amazo flipped a running Superboy using one of the combat techniques the girl had fought the Monqis with back in the train, sending the boy into the bleachers on the other side of the gym.

"Yawn, normally Amazo would study and mimic your powers during battle but what's the point" mocked Ivo "excepting that girl's fighting abilities, your all just poor copies of the originals." He taunted.

"So everyone keeps saying" Superboy frowned "it makes me ANGRY!" And he leapt, but not at Amazo, at Ivo, who cowered in fear, "WANNA SEE ME CHANNEL THAT ANGER!?"

"Great, he's gone ballistic again," Kid Flash frowned.

"Maybe not" Robin smiled

"Amazo! Protect your master! Priority Alpha!" Ivo cried, jumping away from Superboy "Captain Atom" Superboy was blasted.

"Anyone wanna play keep-away?" Robin called out, kicking Ivo.

"Me! Me!" Kid Flash called, running at Ivo "access: Superman" Amazo said, and it stomped the floor, the strength of such a hit sending kid flying,

Robin threw a batarang at the android "Martian Manhunter" and it became intangible, but Supergirl who had been biding her time, flew out and placed her fist where Amazo's brain would be "Superman" it said, going tangible with kara's fist still in it's head.

Kara pulled his head clean off, and lasered it to pieces.

Robin ran forward "help me disassemble him, now!"

"Dude, the guy has no head," Kid Flash pointed out.

"Don't take any chances," Aqualad called out as he and Megan finally entered the gym.

"Superboy, are you alright?" The martian asked.

"Fine," Superboy smiled. He looked at Robin. "Feeling the aster."

"Hey!" Cried "Where's Ivo?!" The team finally noticed he had simply vanished.

"Hey, S.B?" Kara asked "Sorry about how iv'e been ignoring your issues with Superman..." The blonde frowned.

"It's okay" he smiled "I realise that at least I've got you" she smiled back "all of you."

**Mount Justice  
****August 4, 01:06 EDT**

The team and the League were gathered in the ops area to discuss the Amazo mission.

"The Amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analysed at the two separate S.T.A.R labs" Aqualad debriefed "but Ivo escaped an since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android."

"Capturing the professor will be League priority" Black Canary assured.

"But we understand your mission encountered... _Other_ complications" Martian Manhunter said.

"Complications, come with the job" Batman said "your ability to handle them, has impressed the league"

"The whole League?" Asked Superboy "given time, yes" Batman assured

"Kryptonians have very thick skulls" Kara smiled, and got a smile in return

"Of course, there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists. Because there are some problems even we can't handle individually." Batman told them

"Please," Robin scoffed. "If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask!" He pulled out the arrow that was fired during the fight with Amazo. "Look familiar?" Batman took the arrow.

"You were following us!" He exclaimed. "Babysitting, you still don't trust us!" Green Arrow compared on of his arrows to the one Rob had.

"We didn't follow you,"

"And… that's… not your arrow…" Robin sheepishly added.

"But that means!" Robin exclaimed.

"Speedy!" Kid Flash grinned

"He has our backs," Aqualad smiled.

Kid Flash ran forward and took the arrow from Green Arrow. "Souvenir~!" he sang.

Kara, however, frowned at the thought of Speedy, surely he'd have access to the same arrows and equipment as his old mentor? It couldn't have been him, right?

Superboy walked up behind Black Canary, and got her attention.

"I'm ready" he told her.

"Good, because i'm here" she confirmed.

**Metropolis  
****August 4, 11:23 EDT**

Later that day, Kara decided to fly to the Daily Planet, as she needed to have a word with her cousin.

Pushing open a nearby window, Kara slipped in and made her way to the tall man.

"Ms. Lane" she greeted "I need to speak with you Mr. Kent"

"Why, Supergirl, what are you-" She cut him off by dragging the man by his tie to a secluded room, and locked the door.

"What are you doing-" he was once again cut off.

"Listen up Kal, you _need _to start learning to accept Superboy, now, because your little problem with him almost killed us today!" She growled.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a stern face.

"I mean, that boy is hurting, and no matter how good a cousin I am, he _needs _you" the girls scowl was final, and she forcefully pushed him back "take however long you need, but i'm begging you to accept him, please" she turned and left the room, before flying out the window, and back to her apartment.

_"...at least Iv'e got you..." _ Superboy's words echoed through her skull, and while she was happy he had become more accepting that Superman wasn't going to come around right away, she knew that he needed Kal's approval sooner, rather than later.


	6. Infiltrator

**A/N: ****Now, going through reviews, I got one for the very first chapter saying I made Superman's weakness lead, not kryptonite. I understand the confusion there entirely, but what I was getting at was Superman's x-ray vision cannot see through lead, and thusly Kara's can't either.**

**Metropolis  
****August 8, 09:52 EDT**

"Lana!?" A voice cried "what!?" Another replied, this was the usual form of communication in the apartment shared by Lana and 'Linda' Lang.

"Where'd you put that cute swimsuit I got last month? the one with the-the things" while vague, Lana knew exactly what outfit her 'niece' was talking about.

"This?" Lana walked into the room with a black two piece swimsuit that had a gold Batman symbol on the left breast, Kara, Linda's true identity, bought it as a joke, but had found the item looked great on her anyway.

"Cool, thanks Lana" the blonde grabbed the swimsuit and entered the bathroom to change. Today, her and the team where going to visit the beach, minus Wally.

The reason why, was because ever since the Amazo fight, Gotham Academy was undergoing a temporary extension on the summer holidays to repair the damage done, whereas Central City High, was not. Superboy, Miss Martian and Aqualad were not enrolled in any schools, and Metropolis University didn't return to classes for another week or so anyway.

"wait, wait, wait, wait, wait" Lana suddenly appeared before her, stopping her short "shouldn't you bring your Supergirl gear too?"

"why?" the girl asked.

"well, what if some kind of bad-guy issue turns up out of nowhere?"

"fine... I guess I'll bring that too" she entered her wardrobe to dig the uniform out, as Lana left.

moments later "Lana?" the blonde yelled out through the apartment "where is my super suit?"

**Mount Justice  
August 8, 09:58 EDT**

"Recognised: Supergirl, B0-4." She entered the cave to find her teammates already dressed and packed, waiting for her.

"Aww, You waited?" The blonde smiled "yeah, Megan forced us to stay" Robin told her, effectively wiping the smile of her face.

Supergirl poked her tongue out at him and removed the layer of clothing that covered her swimsuit.

Robin raised an eyebrow at her outfit "it was ironic, okay? I'm just happy that Kid Perv isn't here" She frowned and picked up the heaviest bags she could, which naturally held solely food, and exited the cave next to Megan, the boys following.

"Hello, Megan!" The Martian exclaimed. "We should hit the beach every day!"

Robin sighed. "First, a moment of silence for our absent comrade."

While the five of them were able to spend the day in the sun and surf, Wally was stuck in school on his first day of sophomore year.

Kara dropped the bags she held, and flicked out her towel to lie down on, as she planned to 'sun-bathe' while the others played around in the sea.

"Kara, aren't you coming?" Kaldur asked her "no, having powers fuelled by the sun means I need all the rays I can get" she replied "plus I find this _way _more enjoyable anyway."

After a while, the others decided to play a game of beach volleyball, and since Superboy and Aqualad's strength already rivalled each other, Supergirl felt it unnecessary that she should uneven the teams, deciding to ref instead, or she would have, if she knew the rules.

Once lunchtime hit, the group returned to the collection of towels and pulled a pack of sausages out. Robin grabbed a metal device from his always present utility belt, and it opened into a wide metal disc that he lay on the ground, and placed the food on it. Supergirl then used her laser vision to heat the disc up, and cook the sausages on it.

It was well into the afternoon when Kaldur and Kara were left sitting on the shore, as they watched their three friends in the water.

"Y'know, iv'e been thinking" the girl said "if that was Speedy who fired an arrow at Amazo, why wasn't it the same as ? Surely after years of partnership, they would have access to the same source of equipment, or have the same weird arrow sharpening deal, right?" Aqualad was about to respond when a voice echoed in their heads.

"Aqualad, Supergirl, we request you return to the cave immediately" it was Martian Manhunter. The two nodded at each other and informed the others that they'd be back shortly.

When they entered the main ops area, they found Manhunter with Green Arrow, Red Tornado, and Batman, as well as a blonde girl they'd never met before. She wore a green outfit that looked suited for combat, and carried a deep green compound bow.

"Nice uniforms" the girl mocked "we just got back from the beach, what's _your _excuse" Kara retorted, earning a smirk from the other girl

"Nicer comeback, i'm Artemis" she held out a hand "Supergirl, and this is Aqualad. Bats?" The alien looked to the Dark Knight for help.

"Artemis is Green Arrow's new protégé, and _your _new teammate" he told them.

"We felt it necessary to inform you first, as the team's designated leader" Tornado told Kaldur

"And Kara?" The boy questioned "We thought that, well, given the... situation, with Speedy leaving and him being your friend, we didn't wan't Artemis to face a tough time from any of the others" Green Arrow spoke.

"Don't worry, anybody has a problem, they deal with me!" Supergirl said, understanding they wanted her to act as some kind of female guide for the archer.

"J'onn, send for the others" Batman asked. The Martian nodded and telepathically asked the other three to pack up, put on their uniforms, and return to base.

Supergirl and Aqualad left the room to change too, as they all had spare costumes lying around the cave, just in case.

When the two returned, Manhunter had left and the others were stood around the ops area.

"...What happened to your old one?!" Robin asked. Obviously he just been told who Artemis is, and he wasn't happy.

"He called us a joke, remember?" Supergirl walked up and stood beside her new partner.

"Well, yeah but-" he was interrupted.

"Recognised: Kid Flash: B0-3."

"The Wal-Man is here!" Announced the speedster as he entered the cave. "Yeah! Now let's get this party star–" the teen tripped over his own feet and landed on his front, sending a beach ball bouncing around the room behind the present Leaguers "-ted?" he finished.

"Wal-Man, huh?" Artemis nocked. "I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"

"Uh, who's this?" Wally asked.

"Artemis," the archer girl replied. "Your new teammate."

"Kid Flash," he introduced "Never heard of you."

"She's my new protégé," Green Arrow informed.

"What happened to your old one?!" Wally repeated Robin's earlier words.

"Recognized: Speedy: B0-7."

"Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore," Speedy announced as he entered the cave. "Call me Red Arrow."

"Roy, you look–" Green Arrow started.

"Replaceable?" Red Arrow scoffed.

"It's not like that," Green Arrow denied. "You told me you were going solo."

"So why waste time finding a sub?" Red Arrow scowled. "Can she even use that bow?"

"Yes, she can," Artemis spoke up, glaring at her predecessor.

"Who are you?!" Wally exclaimed.

"She's my niece." "I'm his niece." G.A and his protege said together.

"Another niece?" Supergirl turned to Robin, "hey, at least _i'm _a _cousin" _she reasoned.

"But she is _not_ your replacement," Aqualad pointed out. "We have always wanted you on the Team. And we have no quota on archers."

"And if we did, you know who we'd pick," Wally agreed, but Kara frowned, knowing she'd pick the girl who _didn't _betray her mentor.

"Whatever, Bay-watch," Artemis sighed. "I'm here to stay."

"You came to us for a reason," Aqualad pointed out to Roy.

"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette."

The name must have sparked a realisation in Robin, as he pulled up a holographic projection of the professor and her accomplishments.

"Nano-robotics genius and electronics expert at Royal University in Star City! Vanished, two weeks ago" he narrated.

"Abducted two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected, "by the League of Shadows."

"Whoa!" Robin exclaimed. "You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?!"

"Hardcore!" Wally agreed. The two bumped knuckles.

"I already rescued her," Red Arrow informed, Supergirl smirked and rolled her eyes at him. "There's only one problem." He activated another hologram displaying a weird device. "The Shadows already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it The Fog. comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nano-tech infiltrators. Capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone." He said "But it's _true _purpose isn't mere destruction, It's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows. Providing them access to weapons, strategic defence, cutting edge science and tech."

"Perfect for manipulation, power broking, yeah, sounds like the Shadows," Artemis agreed.

"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Wally huffed. Artemis just smirked at the boy "Who are you?!" He demanded

"Roquette's working on a virus to render The Fog inert," Red Arrow told us.

"But if the Shadows knows she can do that…" Robin started.

"They'll target her," Red Arrow finished. "Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her in the local high school's computer lab."

"You left her alone?" Green Arrow asked incredulously.

"She's safe for now," Red Arrow replied.

"Then let's you and I keep her that way," Green Arrow approached his foster son.

"You and I?" Red Arrow scoffed. "Don't you wanna take your new protégé?"

Batman stopped the original arrow from arguing. "You brought this to the Team. It's their mission. Which means it's hers now too." The archer said.

Red Arrow scoffed. "Then my job's done." He made his way to the zeta-tube.

"Recognised: Speedy-" Roy interrupted the computer "that's _Red Arrow _B0-7. Update" he zapped out of the cave.

Supergirl turned to face Artemis "welcome to the team" she smiled, purposefully ignoring the tension left behind.

**Happy Harbour  
****August 8, 21:51 EDT**

The team made it to Happy Harbour High, wearing their stealth gear, and M'gann and Superboy elected to stand guard outside the school, while the others went in, where they found Dr. Roquette in the computer lab.

"Who are you?" She asked, immediately on guard.

"We're here to help" Aqualad assured "Red Arrow informed us you know how to stop The Fog, we are here to protect you from the League of Shadows should they find you"

The woman seemed to accept his reasoning and immediately set to work on locating the weapon from one of the computers.

The others made themselves comfortable in the room, and while she was there, Kara decided to use another computer in her search for Robin's true identity.

After a while, Kaldur placed a hand to his ear _"__Miss Martian, link us up. We do not want the Shadows intercepting our comm__"_ Megan telepathically linked up the team and Dr. Roquette.

_"Everyone online?" _Megan asked.

_"Ugh, this is weird" _Artemis immediately commented.

_"Keep the chatter down guys" _Supergirl asked _"i'm sure coding a distributed algorithm virus on a __public high school computer is probably hard enough for the doc, let alone having our teenager thoughts distracting her"_ the entire group was shocked _"what? I'm not _just _a pretty face" _the alien girl justified.

_"Either way, she's right, it's distracting" _Roquette agreed.

_"Do you two _always _complain when people try to help?" _Kid Flash complained.

_"Pot, kettle, have you met?" _Artemis retorted.

_"Hey, I do not need attitude from the girl who __drew__ Red Arrow off the team"_

_"__That__ is so not on me"_

_"Fate. of the world. at stake!" _The doctor interrupted Kid and Artemis's banter.

_"She started it!" _Kid complained like the five-year-old he is at heart.

_"__How 'bout I just help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the perimeter__" _the archer left.

_"Can't you at least _try _to be a team player?" _Supergirl glared at Wally from her computer _"she saved your life from Amazo"_

_"What? No! That was Speedy's- er, Red Arrow's arrow, right?" _The speedster asked

_"Not so much" _Robin smirked.

_"Well, i'm _still _not giving her the satisfaction" _Wally complained

_"__You know, I__ can still hear you" _Wally groaned out loud at Artemis's comment.

_"I couldn't get the Justice League" _Dr. Roquette complained

_"__The virus will not be of much use if we cannot find the weapon, can you track it?__" _Kaldur asked the doctor a moment later.

_"My __utility fog__ isn't a weapon, it's science, brilliant science, and of course I can __track__ it but __i'd__have to go online. May __as well __rent __a __billboard with this address and 'assassinate me' written in neon__" _She retorted

_"We will protect you" _he assured.

She pressed a key _"tracking Fog now"_

A few moments later, another voice rang through their heads _"mmm, that boy" _it was Artemis

_"__He __can hear you" _Megan said _"we can_ all _hear you"_

_"Oh I know" _Artemis told her.

_"__Miss Martian__" _Aqualad said _"Doctor Roquette has located the Fog. Reconfigure the Bio-ship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue" _the ship landed outside, and the two boys ran onto it, before taking off for Philadelphia.

A few minutes later, Kara found herself staring listlessly out of a window, waiting for this whole mission to end.

_"You embarrassed Superboy" _M'gann complained. Kara decided it would be tough to keep the team off Artemis's throat.

_"Didn't hear _him _say that" _the blonde replied.

_"Must you challenge _everyone_" _the Martian asked.

_"Where I come from, that's how you survive"_

More time passed. Kaldur walked over to Kara, them and the doctor being the only people left in the room.

_"__Supergirl__, I want you __go outside and patrol from above__" _he asked

She nodded and left the room through a rear door taking a few steps down the hall before a noise, muffled by the door, stopped her.

"Doctor get down!" Kaldur cried.

Kara ran back to the door, but halted before she entered, deciding to retain the element of surprise.

"Mmm, that had to hurt" a woman mocked. Using her X-ray vision, Supergirl peered into the room, seeing a woman with large, poofy black hair, a dark green dress, and a white mask displaying a cat with a cheshire grin, was attacking.

"Atlantean skin is quite dense" Aqualad said, pulling out his water-bearers and summoning two water-swords.

"And my shuriken are quite poison" the assassin retorted, swinging her sai at the boy.

The two clashed blades, with Aqualad ending it by throwing the woman back. She flipped in air, and landed gracefully.

_"Miss Martian, Kid, Supergirl, Artemis, we are under attack in the computer lab" _he cried through he still present mind link.

_"On our way" _Artemis responded.

Inside, Aqualad and the strange woman continued to clash, until the two were tripped. The assassin used the moment to throw one of her sai at the doctor, which Kaldur knocked off path using a stream of water.

"Almost, poison slowing you down?" The girl mocked.

"Jellyfish toxin. I am largely immune" the boy replied, but was thrown soon soon after.

"Largely" she lifted her remaining sai to stab down into Kaldur, but the weapon was heated and knocked away by Kara's heat-vision, said girl now standing threateningly in an open doorway.

"Well hello Super-Sweety, can you move faster than a speeding bullet?" The assassin quickly pulled out several shuriken, and threw them at Supergirl, who didn't flinch as they hit, and were flung away from the alien.

"Don't need to be" Kara replied.

The woman pulled out another shuriken, but it was shot out of her hand by an arrow. Artemis stood in the other doorway "don't. move"

Kaldur stood up, and the assassin surveyed the scenario. Three super-heroes, vs one assassin.

"This gig's getting interesting" she pulled out a short katana, and Artemis let loose arrows faster than Supergirl thought a human could, but each one was deflected with ease using the blade.

Soon, Miss Martian and a wet looking Kid Flash ran in "maybe too interesting."

The woman threw down an explosive smoke pellet just as Wally ran at her, causing the boy to stumble and fall into Artemis.

The assassin had disappeared "gone!" Wally stated.

"She's getting away" Roquette cried "your letting her get away!"

"This is all your fault" Kid accused Artemis "you were on perimeter, how'd that shadow get in!" He cried.

"Hey!" Kara shouted, silencing all and causing them to turn to the angered teen "this is _not _on her. Miss Martian was out there too, and _you _were supposed to be standing guard, _right outside that door_"she pointed at the entryway "explain to me why _she _missed the assassin too" Kara gestured at Megan, now standing beside the archer.

"Miss Martian was... distracted by her!" he said "besides, I can't be mad at you" he smiled at M'gann _"you gave me mouth to mouth" _her said via mind-link.

_"We heard that" _the others chorused.

"Dang it!" Wally walked away.

"I didn't do half as well in my first battle" M'gann said "and I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick very long"

"Focus everyone, the Shadows will be back" Aqualad said.

"And in greater numbers" Kara agreed, earning a strange look from Wally.

Kaldur's comm beeped, and he picked up a conversation with Robin

"Rescan for that Fog" he ordered "find it, we're moving the doctor"

Only a couple of hours later, they had moved Roquette onto a new computer just by the docks.

Wally and Artemis guarded inside a warehouse, Aqualad surveyed the forest nearby, M'gann remained disguised, and Kara kept an eye out by the actual water.

_"Stop it, both of you" _Kaldur ordered

_"What?" _Wally and Artemis asked.

_"I can hear you glaring" _he replied.

Kara continued to pace water's edge, whistling the tune to some human song she had taken a liking to, something to do with an inebriated sailor.

Kara heard a struggle coming from where Aqualad was stationed, but before she could investigate, a presence caught her attention.

She turned to find a woman standing not to far from her. Long, flowing black hair, a long black and red coat, and a katana, with a strange cord attached to the hilt, drawn by her side.

"Lady Shiva" Kara said.

"You know of me" the renowned assassin commented "I was told you are a powerful warrior, but I have come prepared" she pressed a button on the handle of her sword, and it came to life, glowing a rich red. Red solar energy.

Kara thought quick over how to avoid this becoming a death match.

"This is a little unfair Shiva" Kara said.

"True" she replied "but as I said, I have come prepared" she unsheathed another sword and tossed it at Supergirl, who caught it with ease, readying into a position she learnt from a different Artemis.

With a short cry, the two women ran at each other and swung their blades, the two clashing with a loud crash of metal on metal.

Each time the assassin's blade came close to Kara, it's red energy would slowly drain her powers.

The two women came face to face, their blades pressed up against each other in a power struggle. Shiva stepped back and pulled her sword down, causing Kara to stumble forward, before a boot meet her back, knocking her down.

Kara stood and turned just in time to stop Shiva's sword from impaling her neck.

"Your skill with a blade exceeds that of many of my previous opponents" Shiva commented

"I trained with the Amazonian warriors of Themyscira" Kara replied "of course i'm better than most."

The two returned to a stale-mate, where each attack was deflected, and every move was calculated meticulously by either party.

Suddenly, a voice rang out in Kara's head _"Kid, Supergirl, let's end this"_

Supergirl was momentarily distracted _"not now!" _She mentally cried, noticing a fraction too late as Shiva swung her down down, having recognised Kara's distraction.

The sharp blade sliced through the surface of her skin easily, leaving a deep red cut in her arm, and causing kara to drop her sword, grasping at the wound.

"Now, you meet your end" the assassin lifted her blade up high, and swung down, only for the sword to be caught inches from Supergirl's face.

Kara held the blade tight, feeling the edge cut her palm as she held it. Supergirl threw her hand up, twisting Shiva's lower arm awkwardly, and leaving the woman's blade lying helplessly as the now severed power cord left it drained.

The women stood back up and glared at one another, but Shiva knew this battle was over.

"You live for another day" she said "you are a far greater warrior than I had anticipated, but we shall meet again" she tossed a smoke pellet down, and when the smoke lifted, she was gone.

"I'll be waiting" Kara told herself. Noticing the two swords lying about, her mouth curled into a smirk, "souvenir"

Supergirl entered the warehouse behind to meet up with her team, finding Aqualad and Artemis gone, two unconscious assassins, and Miss Martian freeing Kid Flash from a sticky red web.

"Move" Kara ordered, swinging one of her collected blades down to slice off the webs

"Where were you?" Wally asked.

"Fighting Lady Shiva" Kara replied, lifting the two swords for emphasis "she escaped though"

The three lifted the two perps and carried them down the road to the location of the real Doctor Roquette.

Reaching the small internet café, the they noticed Kaldur was being helped out by Roquette, as Artemis stood outside alone.

"Artemis, where is the assassin?" Aqualad asked

"She, uh, she got away" The blonde replied.

"From you?" Wally ran up beside her "oh, big surprise" he stated sarcastically, "notice, we got ours" he gestured to the assassin's M'gann was carrying.

"Hey, Kid Dip-head" Kara barked, "quite acting all high and mighty about tonight, because mine got away too" she glared.

Wally looked down, but noticed the Cheshire mask "cool, souvenir"

"Her mask" Kaldur grunted as her pulled crossbow bolts from his torso "did you see her. her face?"

"It was dark" the archer reasoned.

"It is okay, Robin and Superboy deactivated the Fog, and Doctor Roquette is safe" the leader reassured "thanks in no small part to you"

Kara smiled "Welcome to the team, besides, I've always wanted a sister" Kara looked to M'gann "well, one who knows more than me about Earth"

"Uh, thanks" Artemis gave a small smile.

Kara jabbed Wally in the side "ow" a pointed look "uh, yeah, welcome" he reluctantly shook Artemis's hand.


	7. Denial

**Mount Justice  
****August 19, 19:39 EDT**

Most of the team, sans Robin, were gathered around the lit sparring area in the cave, as a shirtless Superboy and Aqualad sparred with each other. Wally was off to one side eating a microwavable burrito, and the girls were watching the fight with... interest. Supergirl, strangely, was casually, and loudly slurping out of a 'Big Gulp' soda.

"Kaldur's nice, don'tcha think?" Artemis, which was apparently her _real _name, said. "Handsome, commanding, you should totally ask him out" the archer continued, unperturbed.

"He's like a big brother to me" Miss M justified "but you know who would make the cutest couple."

"Wally and Arty?" Kara supplied, gesturing between the team's wit-based rivals.

"Yeah, your'e so full of passion and he's so full of..." Megan trailed off.

"Hot air?" "It?" The other girls offered, causing all the females to crack up laughing.

"How about _Kara _and Kaldur?" M'gann suggested.

"No, you two are _not _setting us up" Kara glared, as the others laughed some more

"Fail: Aqualad" the computer announced.

"Yeah S.B. you're improving!" Kara shouted out to her cousin, who smiled and nodded back at her.

The hatch above the sparring zone opened and Red Tornado flew down.

"Do you have a mission for us?" Wally stopped the android.

"Missions are the Batman's responsibility" he replied.

"Yeah well the Batman's with the Robin doing the Dynamic Duo thing in Gotham" Kid retorted "_you're _headed somewhere, right? a hot date or a, a mish-own?" He winked.

"If we _can _be of help" Kaldur said.

Tornado opened up a holographic image of an old man in a nice suit "this is Kent Nelson" he said "a friend, he is 106 years old."

"Guy doesn't look a day over 90" Wally remarked.

"And he has been missing, for 23 days" Tornado continued "Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentor's Justice League" the image altered to show Nelson in full Dr. Fate garb.

"Of course, Nelson was Earth's sorcerer supreme" Aqualad told them "ah, yes, the famed Doctor Fate" Kara nodded.

"Pfft, more like Doctor Fake, guy knows a little advanced science and Dumbledores it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes" Kid whispered to Artemis.

"Kent may simply be on one of his... walkabouts. But he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded" the android said.

"He is like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars, I would be honoured to help find him" Megan said, and Wally's hand shit up.

"Me too, so honoured, I can barely stand it, magic, rocks" he was lying through his teeth.

"Take this." Tornado held up a key "it is the key to the Tower of Fate" Kaldur took it.

"What are the chances we both _so _admire, the mystic arts?" Wally grinned at Miss M.

"Can I hit him?" Kara asked the Atlantean beside her.

**Salem  
****August 19, 20:22 EDT**

"So, Wally, when did you first realise your... honest affinity for sorcery?" Artemis asked.

"Well I, I don't like to brag but uh, before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered become a wizard myself" he 'informed'.

"Sure, and _I _once considered joining the Labour Guild in Kandor" Kara rolled her eyes. Wally annoyed most people, but sometimes Kara just confused them. This was one of those times.

"We've reached Tornado's coordinates but-" Megan was interrupted.

"Nothing's there" Superboy commented.

"Take us down" Aqualad ordered.

Megan landed the still cloaked ship and the team disembarked, before looking around the area to locate the Tower.

Kara and Wally elected to speed around a few blocks and the surround area to try and find it, before giving up and returning to the others.

"Nothing. This isn't simple camouflage" Wally commented.

"Not even _I _can pick it up" the alien agreed.

"So what do you think?" Artemis asked "adaptive-micro-opto-electronics combined with phase shifting?" She was oozing sarcasm.

"Absolutely... not" Wally altered his answer when Megan walked up "clearly, mystic powers, are at work here."

The others simply glared at him.

"A test of faith" Kaldur pondered, "stand behind me" he walked ahead and inserted the key into thin air, turning it, and causing an entire tower to appear in front of them, the Tower of Fate.

Entering, Kara immediately flew up to investigate higher areas, when a yellow projection of Nelson materialised in front of the rest.

"Greetings, you have entered with the key, but the tower does not recognise you" he spoke "please state your purpose and intent."

Wally smirked and stepped forward "we are true believers, here to find, Doctor Fate!" fake Nelson frowned, and the floor opened, dropping the team minus Supergirl, to a fiery pit below. She about to rescue them, when the floor turned solid, and the entrance once again appeared, and opened.

The ground turned into a stairway, and three men entered. First was Nelson, but his hands were tied, next was a tall tanned man in a loose white dress shirt, and last was a grey-skinned boy in a suit, with an orange cat in his arms.

"The tower may not appreciate trespassers" Nelson said "mute" The taller one ordered, and a strange collar materialised, and attached itself to the old man's neck.

The three continued forth, with Kara following above. Her curiosity was affected a little by these two villain's purpose, but she was more interested at the Tower _not_ ejecting her. Surely a building that was coursing with this much raw magic would have some level of self-security.

They entered through a wall into what looked like an old sitting room. A portrait of a woman dominated the back wall, right above a lit fireplace.

Another Nelson projection appeared "hello Kent, how unlike you to bring guests to the tower" it said "especially one with such potent mystic power."

"My friends come to help me" Kent's mute collar gasped.

The fake Nelson smiled and the back wall opened up to reveal a room full of crazy stairs, that sat upside-down, right-way 'round, on their side, and everything in between. The three magicians entered, and Kara stalked them from above.

It wasn't that long until the boy, who Kara learned was called Klarion from the taller man's failed attempts to shut him up, began to chant "are we there yet?" And it was giving her a headache.

"Tell us how to find the Helmet!" The taller man, Abra Kadabra, ordered, before ripping the collar of Nelson's neck.

"Can't, having too much fun" the old man replied. Supergirl swore he winked at her in the shadows.

Abra scowled and zapped Nelson with his wand "still having fun?" The man mocked

"I am" Klarion chuckled "zap him again, oh, or dump him off the side and watch him splat!"

The cat on klarions shoulder mewled, and the boy seemed to understand it "yes, yes, I suppose me might still need him"

Suddenly, Artemis and Wally materialised behind them on a vertical slanting stair, both clutching a waling cane.

"Abra Kadabra!" Wally exclaimed.

"Well would you look at that" Nelson grinned, and the cane glowed golden, before Kent did too, and shot at the two.

"Well, no point hiding" Kara shrugged and flew... up, to meet them.

"In here" Kent said as a solid block of wall turned into an elevator, him and the teens rushing in.

The four stood calmly in the elevator, with light music playing in the background, as numbers counted up above the door.

"I'm Kent Nelson by the way" the old man smiled

"No doubt-" Artemis elbowed Kid in the side before he could finish.

"I'm Artemis, and miss manners here? Is Wally" the archer said.

"And i'm Kara... or Supergirl" Supergirl smiled.

"Ah, yes, Superman's cousin I believe?" She nodded to confirm "Well kids, we're up agains't an opponent with tremendous mystic power" he told them.

"Abra Kadabra?" Wally scoffed "Flash proved he uses futuristic technology to _simulate _magic, guy's all show and no biz" he said.

"Right you are" the old man informed

"Oh?" Kara raised a brow

"Abra _is _a sherlit" Nelson informed "but Klarion the Witch Boy, the kid with the cat, is an actual Lord of Chaos! The ultimate enemy for a Lord of Order, like Dr. Fate.

"Right, your a lord of order" Wally humoured.

"Oh no, not me" Nelson corrected "i'm just an old coat Fate used to put on, until my wife, Inza, convinced me there could be more to life" he flicked open a pocket watch and admired the picture in it "ah, she was a real pistol that Inza, anywho, Klarion's after the helmet, if he gets his sticky little mitts on it, he'll turn the world into his own personal playground of pandemonium." The elevator doors dinged.

The four exited to see a large brass bell suspended in the middle of the room. A panel opened up behind them in the roof, and the others poured out, and onto the ground.

"Friends of yours?" Nelson asked. An electric bolt zapped past them, and they ducked "friends of yours?" Wally retorted. Nelson whacked the bell with his cane, and it began to glow. Nelson, Wally and Kara stepped into it,as Klarion flew in trough the other side.

They appeared in the roof of the tower, with the Helmet of Fate floating before them. Kent reached for it, but a red energy blast knocked him back and into Wally.

Clutching his heart, Nelson lifted up his cane and chanted some archaic language, before slamming his cane down, causing a yellow do e to cover the three heroes, and the helmet.

"Not bad for a former Doctor Fake, eh kid?" Nelson gasped before collapsing into Wally.

"The bubble will give you just enough time, to do what you need to do" he whispered to Wally.

"I have no idea what I need to do!" The boy cried. Off to the side, Kara was getting increasingly nervous at the witch boy's red magic, which was breaking further and further into the shield. She was right to be nervous, as magic was one of her only weaknesses, and Klarion practically oozed the stuff.

"Have faith would you? can't explain" Nelson gasped "believe in what you can no longer... deny" he went limp, and quiet.

Wally began chest compressions on the now dead man, as Klarion fired hex after hex at the bubble.

"I want that helmet and I want it now!" The witch boy cried.

Megan's voice cut into their heads "Wally, Kara, we're in trouble! Tell Kent we need Dr. Fate"

Klarion created two red claws out of magic, and stabbed them into the bubble. They squeaked and squealed as they pushed and pulled the bubble's surface.

"A test of faith" Wally said, before getting up and grabbing hold of the helmet. Kara looked at him incredulously "wait! your not really gonna..." She trailed off.

"I have to" he told her, before pulling the helmet on, just as the bubble tore open, and Klarion fired a powerful blast of hex magic at the pair.

When the stream ended, Kara was left on the ground behind Wally, only it wasn't him, it was Dr. Fate.

Fate flew into the air, and conjured an ankh of golden energy, which Klarion began to fire hexes into mercilessly.

"Give it up Nabu! Order went out of style in the twentieth century!" The boy shouted.

"This battle is pointless" Nabu said in a mixture of Wally's and some other man's voices "you sought to take the helmet before it gained a host, but you are too late!"

"Shut it you old fart!" Klarion summoned two pillars of stone, which bent and sandwiched Fate in between, but a moment later, another ankh glowed on the stone, and it exploded outward, freeing Fate.

"Brat!" He said, firing an energy blast, in the shape of another ankh, at Klarion, who burst into darkness, and reformed on the ground behind Fate.

"Wally!" Kara shouted, flying up and taking a hex blast in the back. The force knocked her into Fate, and both of them to the ground. Kara was left lying on the ground, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Oh, oops" Klarion grinned madly.

Fate pushed Kara to the edge of the tower with a wall of energy, and jumped out of the way of a red dragon-head-shaped hex. He blocked it, but was hit by another coming the other way.

The witch boy summoned a volley of red 'bullets' and fired them at the Lord of Order, who blocked with a shield of light.

Nabu flew in the air and dodged more pillars of magic as they blasted into the air at him. One hit Nabu, and knocked him to the ground.

"Your'e out of practice Nabu!" Klarion taunted "and that pathetic host body? Zero affinity for the mystic arts" he summoned a storm of red magic, and fired down a hex lighting bolt onto Fate, who protected himself with another shield of light.

"Ooo, rainbow power!" Klarion admired, his cat meowed "I _am _paying attention you stupid cat! and in case you hadn't noticed, i'm winning"

With an outward burst of light, the bubble exploded, and the stream of magic was interrupted. Fate stood in the centre of a flaming circle of light "it is difficult for a Lord of Order, _or_ Chaos to maintain a presence on the fiscal plain.

Klarion summoned some balls of hex magic, and fired them at Nabu

"I am bound to the helmet, and use a human host" Fate said, before firing an ankh at Klarion, who deflected it with a shield of rock "but that is not _your _way"

"Your babbling Nabu" the Witch Boy complained

"Am I?" Fate fired a blast of light from his chest, which Klarion blocked, but the burst flew right past him, and into the cat nearby.

"Teekl!" Klarion cried "I can't believe you'd assault a defenceless pussy cat!"

"We both know that creature is no cat, Witch boy" Fate justified "without your familiar, you have no anchor in this reality" Klarion began to flicker.

"Bully, Killjoy... Geezer!" Klarion yelled, and warped out of the way of an ankh blast.

"This isn't over!" He yelled, appearing next to his cat and picking it up.

"Screw off!" A voice yelled, before Kara's fist flew at him. He disappeared before it connected.

The blonde limped over to Fate, who was standing motionlessly in the breeze.

"Wally?" She asked, lightly shaking his shoulder "Doctor Fate? Hello?" She was getting worried, as no matter what, Fate wouldn't react to her.

After a moment, Fate stirred, and pulled the helmet off. His clothing disappeared in a shine of light, and Wally was left standing there, helmet in hand.

"Wally!" She hugged him. And they moved over to Nelson's body. Kara picked him up, and Wally steadied her with an arm around her shoulders.

**Mount Justice  
****August 20, 03:30 EDT**

The team were in the ops area with the league, discussing the recent death of Kent Nelson, and debriefing the mission.

Kara lay upon a stretcher Zatara had conjured, and Black Canary was tending to the wounds on her back and leg.

"Hey, Kara?" Wally walked over to her "thanks for, you know, protecting me- or Fate- both, I guess, earlier"

She smiled "just try to keep an open mind, and don't get yourself into another position were you need _me _to play meat-shield" he smiled sheepishly and walked away.

* * *

**A/N ugh, not my best. Sorry for the distinct lack of Supergirl action in this, but the episode pretty heavily relied Kid's non-belief in magic, and then him wearing the helmet.**


	8. Bereft

**Bialya**

**September 4, 06:34 EEST**

Kara woke up, woozy, and covered in sand

"Ugh, what- what happened?" She looked around, and found nothing but an ocean of sand, and a large rock formation nearby.

"Where... am I?" She attempted to stand, but as soon as she put weight on her arm, jolts of pain shot up it.

She gasped in pain, and inspected the offending limb. Jutting out of her upper arm, a small peice of rock glowed a bright red. Red Kryptonite.

"Red... crap" Kara swore, pulled the object from her arm, and stood up, being careful not to put pressure on the now dry wound.

"Time to test the powers" she said to herself.

First, she began to hover above the ground a moment, confirming she still had flight. Next, she attempted to use any of her enhanced visions, no go.

Supergirl flew over to the rock formation, purposefully hitting it at full speed, which in itself showed she still had super-speed. When she hit the rock, she felt the full amount of pain a human would in the same scenario, but the damage was more like... as if a bullet would hurt, but not break the skin or kill her at all.

Finally, she tried to lift the large rock, but to no avail.

"Better check the area out" she flew high into the air, looking around for a moment, before deciding on a direction and flying out that way.

As kara flew, she strained her memory to find out what exactly led her to end up in a desert with kryptonite jutting out of her arm. Suddenly, a memory rose to the surface of her mind.

_She was walking down a hallway with rocky walls, ahead, she could see the others making their way to the hangar._

_Kara didn't look to her left, but began to speak to the person there anyway._

_"So, you figure out what was wrong?" she asked._

_"Yes, and now I have decided my mind and loyalties lie one-hundred percent with the team" his deep voice replied._

_"Good" she one the outside the smiled, but inwardly she grinned, it would have sucked to lose him._

Kara pulled out of the memory suddenly. She was hovering in place, but somehow she had the feeling this unknown man she spoke to in her memory was in trouble.

It was a while later when she found herself flying over somewhat of a canyon, keeping an eye out for somewhere to break and collect her thoughts.

Looking down, she barely spotted a small wooden house further up, and sped up to check out the place.

Just as she began to near it, an explosion akin to a cannon sounded behind her, and moments later an impact on her back shocked her enough to end her flight prematurely.

She fell down to the Earth below, her trajectory arcing her towards the shack, which she hit hard enough to essentially blow the place up.

Kara lifted herself, groaning in the thudding pain all over, and stumbled out of the remains off the house to find two teenagers, one a boy in a black jumpsuit with a shock of red hair carrying the other, a blonde girl with a bow, wearing a green outfit.

"Who are you..." another wave of pain "...and why are you here?" Supergirl demanded.

"We can introduce ourselves later, but first..." the boy trailed off, nodding behind Kara where a group of tanks and armed soldiers marched on their position.

The Kryptonian nodded and followed the two strange teens, at a varying pace due to the pain still echoing through her body, as the boy moved at speeds rivalling fighter jets.

Once they had made it sufficiently far enough, the three slowed to a stop, and the boy let the girl back onto her feet.

"So, who are you?" Kara asked, the pain now finally turning into a dull ache.

"Kid Flash, but you can call me handsome" the boy winked and held out a hand, he seemed to be completely unaware of her pain.

"Supergirl, but you can call me unimpressed" the alien replied.

"Supergirl wears blue, and red" the girl argued "also, are you okay?" Kara nodded and looked down, only just noticing she had no cape, and her outfit was black and grey.

"I'll be..." Kara shook her head back on track "you are?" She asked the archer.

"I'm... Wait" she suddenly changed the subject "if your Supergirl, then you must have super strength, so why didn't you take care of those tanks back there?" She asked.

"Negative, red Kryptonite poisoning. Non-lethal, but it has random temporary effects on my physiology, and it seems to have drained half of my powers this time" the girl informed.

This seemed to satisfy Kid, for now at least, and the three continued to trek the desert together in search of civilisation. Kid carrying the other girl and Kara following as they traveled at super-speed.

After a short while of running, Kid Flash began to slow down.

"Sorry" he stopped and put archer girl down "running on empty. Don't think iv'e eaten in a while" Kara found this interesting. His powers must be fuelled by food sustenance, as hers are fuelled by yellow sun radiation

Kid opened up a compartment on his wrist, finding it empty "been out here over twenty-four hours, or my cupboards wouldn't be bare.

Suddenly, a shirtless boy who looked a strange amount like a younger Superman impacted on the ground between the three.

The boy turned to Kid Flash, and swung at him, hitting the speedster into the rocky wall beside them.

Kara tried to hit him in the back of the neck, or his temple, as this was were many people where weaker, but to no avail. The boy turned and threw her away, sending Supergirl into kid who had just began to stand from his own impact.

He turned and ran at the archer, who tried to stop him by firing several explosive arrows at him. When the psycho boy made it to her, she side stepped his attack, seperating them again, but as her stood up, an artillery shell hit the ground at his feet, knocking down the two.

In the distance, some tanks rolled up. Psycho-boy turned to them and jumped a substantial distance, before fighting and wrecking the tanks with his bare hands.

"Who's side is he on?" Archer asked no one in particular.

"You wanna stick around and find out?" Kid asked back.

"Quick, let's go before Psycho there turns back on us" Kara said. Archer-girl was picked up by Kid again, who began to run the opposite way from the fight, Kara following behind.

Kid started running down a sand-dune, when his foot hit a rock, sending him and his passenger tumbling on the ground. Above, two fighter-drones flew over, before turning back and firing at the three.

"Get down!" Kara grabbed them both and tucked them under her arms, blocking them from the drone's fire.

As they circled back to attack again, Archer-girl loaded an arrow with some EMP device on the tip. Just as she fired though, a voice cut through their heads.

_"Don't worry i'm almost there"_

The voice caused her to misfire, allowing the drones to continue their flight.

"Did you just hear a girl talking in your head" she asked the others.

"Girls are always on my mind" Kid said "but they're not usually talking"

"Iv'e only ever heard a dog talk in _my _head. Never met a _humanoid _telepathic" Kara said, earning strange look from the others.

Suddenly, a girl flying through the skies smashed the drones together using some kind of telekinetic ability, before landing before the three, who could now clearly make out her green skin.

"Well, J'onn, the costume looks... familiar. But, i'm not sure the new bod much screams 'Manhunter'" Kid said to the girl.

"You know my uncle J'onn?" She asked. Kara knew _of _a J'onn, but Kal had yet to introduce her to any Leaguers aside from Batman and Wonder Woman

"Hello Megan, of course you do" the martian girl said "You're Kid Flash, Wally, and you're Artemis, and Supergirl, Kara"

"Wait wait wait, Martian Manhunter's your'e uncle?" Kid asked "is that how you know my name?"

"Your'e name's really Wally?" Artemis asked.

"How _do _you know our names..? especially mine?" Kara inquired.

"Well, we're teammates, friends, I made you cookies" now Kara was really skeptical.

"You know her?" Artemis asked.

"No I-I swear, beautiful, i've never met her before in my life!" He stammered "at least, not that I remember"

the Martian sighed "you all lost you're memories too" they turned to see the aftermath of the psycho-boy battle.

"C'mon, i'll fill you in on they way, Robin and Superboy need our help" the martian said

"Super-what?" Kara was worried that her family may be larger than she originally remembered.

A while later, the four were still trekking the desert when the telltale sound of gunfire rang through he night.

Kid immediatly ran ahead to stop it as the three girls scouted from above

"Bialyan Republic" Kara said as Kid Flash ran out ahead.

"You know them?" Miss Martian asked.

"Are you kidding?" the blonde was incredulous "i've stopped, like, four assassination attempts in this country"

Kid ran forward and disarmed the men with his super-speed, then he and the short kid went on to knock out many of the soldiers.

Miss Martian flew out of hiding and used telekinetic abilities to throw several more soldiers away from the two.

Deciding to act now, Kara flew out and hovered above the battlefield, before throwing herself down and into the soldiers, using her own speed to grab and disassemble the weaponry, before punching the soldiers in their guts or faces. Even without super-strength, Kara was still stronger than the average human.

The group of people turned to see a lone soldier attempting to escape the heroes, until an arrow shot out, which extended into a cable which wrapped around the man's legs, tripping him over.

Artemis had fired it

"KF!" The short kid exclaimed "Man, it's good to see a familiar face!"

"Hey Rob," the ginger-speedster replied "Memory loss?"

"Six months!" Shorty said "Let's hog tie these creeps and compare notes."

The teens tied up all of the Bialyans, then gathered to discuss what happened.

"So, what's up with the Superman gear?" The unknown boy asked

"I'm Supergirl, his cousin" Kara replied "and you are?" When she had researched the world's known heroes all that time ago, she didn't look into sidekicks.

"Duh, i'm Robin! Batman's sidekick" he thumbed the small 'R' on his chest proudly.

Miss Martian called Robin over to explain the evemts that had befallen them, or at least what she had remembered.

"So... we're a team?" Robin clarified.

"The five of us and Superboy," Miss Martian nodded.

"Then this must be his." Robin pulled out a piece of cloth with a large red 'S' shield on it. Kara's eyes narrowed.

"Yes!" The Martian girl confirmed "have you seen him?"

"I think we did," Artemis said, looking to Supergirl and Kid Flash.

"Feral boy?" he scoffed, "Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He doesn't know who we are" Kara defended the 'Superboy'.

"_I_ don't know who we are!" Artemis exclaimed.

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence" Robin informed "our team must work for him!"

"How do you know we don't work for _my_ mentor?" Kid Flash asked, tapping the lighting bolt on his chest, causing his suit to turn yellow "This is so cool!"

He continued to press the icon, turning his suit black and yellow, as Artemis, Robin and Supergirl, who didn't know _her _switch was on her _belt_, tapped their symbols.

"We look ridiculous!" Artemis exclaimed as the three stopped uselessly pressing the icons "Quit touching yourself."

"We need our memories back" Kara looked to Miss Martian, who nodded again.

Soon, the teens all found themselves in a strange purplish room where images of them performing certain actions played around them. Almost like memories.

"I brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far," Miss Martian materialised before them. "But I need your help. Together, our broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine."

Artemis looked affronted. "You wanna pour through our private thoughts?!" Kara understood. If Miss M somehow revealed to the others her cousin's secret identity, she'd be in deep trouble.

"I have no wish to intrude but-" Miss Martian defended.

"You need our memories to complete the mental puzzle." Kara nodded "go ahead, our minds are open"

"My brain is all yours, try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you," Kid Flash flirted.

"Or underwhelm you," Robin smirked "hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

"Your English teacher must hate you" Supergirl retorted.

They all looked to Artemis "fine. But only what you need"

They closed their eyes, and soon the last six months came flooding back. From the birth of the team, to the fight with Amazo, all the way to the botched Bialya mission.

The last memory showed Kara zooming through the skies.

_"Supergirl, remember to stay safe no matter what" a calm voice rang through her skull._

_"Don't worry Aqualad, i'll be fi-AHH" she was cut off by a stabbing pain shooting through her arm, sending her hurtling to the ground, and a voice roaring in her head_

_"FORGET"_

Their eyes snapped open, and Kara's hidden memory remained at the forefront of their thoughts.

"Aqualad!" They exclaimed.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Robin turned to the two alien girls.

"I don't know..." Miss Martian replied.

"Last thing I remember is falling, then black." Kara explained "but if we landed twenty-four hours ago, and Kaldur has been in the desert than long..." She couldn't continue.

"It's not good for a guy with gills" Wally finished.

"Now that I know to look for him," Robin activated a map on his glove "He's close! but he's not moving"

"No time to waste then, c'mon" Kara flew in the direction Robin's glove pointed out, the others following suit.

It didn't take long to find Aqualad, but when they did, it wasn't good. He was lying on the ground unconscious, babbling some nonsense in Atlantean.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition"

"He needs immediate rehydration!" Robin cried "call the Bio-Ship over!"

"It's out of range," Miss Martian shook shook her head.

"Can't you carry him?" Robin asked Kara.

She shook her head no "red kryptonite poisoning. No super-strength, and if I carry him, it won't last long" she turned to Kid "you?"

"He's too heavy, and i'm too low on fuel, right now, I couldn't even carry her" he pointed to Artemis.

"Why not just levitate him back?" Artemis asked.

Miss Martian shook her head no "I can't. I have to find Superboy. Six months ago, he didn't exist. He has not memories. Just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him."

"Superboy's indestructible," Kid Flash said "Just ask those tanks. It's Aqualad who needs your help... like now!"

"No! Superboy's in pain!" Miss M cried, before flying away

"M'gann, wait!" Artemis yelled.

"We still don't know what erased our memories!" Robin called out to her "It could happen again!"

Somehow, they managed to fashion a stretcher to lay Aqualad on, which Kara volunteered to pull all by herself. Ultimately, Artemis decided to lift the rear end of the stretcher to help them.

As they walked, suddenly something caught Robin attention "quick" he pointed to a large rocky formation that would hide them from the Bialyans "over there"

As soon as they ducked behind the rocks, a squad of Bialyan soldiers drove by, no doubt on watch for the team.

"We can't risk a fire fight with Aqualad KO'd like this," Robin whispered.

Kid Flash sighed. "It's not just him. I'm way outta juice."

"And if I don't get this treated" Supergirl gestured her injured arm "well, i don't know what could happen"

They turned back to Robin, who was now gone.

"I forgot how annoying that is" Supergirl scowled.

Kara focused on keeping Aqualad comfortable and sfe while tuning out Kid and Artemis's squabbling over some ninja thing.

"Yeesh!" Robin suddenly appeared "get a room" he told them.

"Dude!" Wally complained "Where were you?"

"Breaking radio silence," the Boy Wonder smirked..

Suddenly, the sound of Robin's siganture cackle filled the air around them, and several explosive discs he had set up went off, leaving a large smoke cloud, and a group of coughing Bialyans.

"That's our cue! Move!" Robin ordered. Artemis and Kara picked up Aqualad and began to run as fast as they could to the Bio-ship on the Bialya border, in Qurac.

A while later, they had made it, and immediately set about re-hydrating Aqualad.

Kara took a seat beside Kaldur and Artemis began to treat her wounded arm.

_"__Hey, everybody!"_ M'gann called out in their heads _"I've got Superboy! He's back to normal and we're on our way!"_

Aqualad suddenly sat upright, and began to babble in Atlantean again. Kara grabbed his shoulders and pinned him down.

"Aqualad, stop! We're here to help" her tone softened "just calm down, please" she gingerly let go of him, as the ordeal put stress on her arm, and he remained lying, albeit slightly panicked.

"Who are you?" he asked "and how did you get inside my head?"

_"Hello, Megan! Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something!"_

_"Aw man, me too!" _Kid Flash frowned. _"__I didn't get a souvenir from the mission!"_

_"Don't worry. Got the souvenir thing covered."_Miss Martian said.


	9. Targets

**A/N Alright, so I've been reading over the chapters I have already uploaded, and they are full of so many typos that it sickens me, so sorry.**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
****September 7, 06:41 EDT**

"Ready for school?" A voice called out

Superboy had been tinkering with a motorbike in the garage/hangar of the cave, when Kara, in complete Linda Lang outfit, Megan, Red Tornado, Aqualad and Martian Manhunter walked in

"I made our lunches" Miss M flew over to Superboy carrying two paper bags of food

"The first day if the scholastic season carries great cultural resonance" Manhunter commented "we want to wish you both well"

"Kal is still working towards acceptance" Kara offered, and received a weak smile in return.

"You... may wish to... change" Kaldur told them "before you depart"

"Ah, I spent _hours _choosing this outfit!" Megan's clothing morphed into pinkish-red skirt with a matching cardigan, and a white shirt underneath.

"What do you think?" She asked "can M'gann M'orzz pass as an Earth girl now?"

At Kara's concerned look she hastily continued "just kidding!" She said, before her skin went from green to pink "meet, Megan Morse!" She curtsied "what's _your _new name?" She asked Superboy

"My what?"

"I chose the name 'John Jones' for myself, and suggested 'John Smith' for Red Tornado" Manhunter explained as he morphed into a tall, dark man in a suit "you could be a John too" he suggested

"Nah, doesn't seem right" Kara said.

"Connor's always been my favourite name" Megan said. 'Connor' shrugged.

"A last name will also be required" Kaldur said

"How's about Kent?" Suggested 'Linda'

"Oh, in memory of Dr. Fate!" Miss M reasoned "the late _Kent _Nelson!"

"Yeah... him" Kara's eyes shifted nervously as Manhunter gave her nudge in the back as if to say 'think before you speak'

"Okay, sure, I guess it'd be an honour, or something'" Connor shrugged again

"Well, Connor Kent, time to change your shirt" Megan smiled, at his confused expression, she elaborated "you don't want to reveal you identity!"

He pulled his shirt off and turned it inside-out "will this work?"

"Yeah, yeah, now put it on, we've gotta go" Kara pushed him and began to walk away, swinging a pair of car keys around her fingers

"Your'e taking us?" Megan asked

"Yeah, I'm taking a day off from the horrors of University" the 'brunette' said.

The three got into Kara's car, and the girl pulled out of the cave, before making her way towards Happy Harbour High School.

**Happy Harbour  
****September 7, 07:58 EDT**

Linda had been escorting Connor and Megan, when a careless skateboarder almost ran her down, luckily though, Connor grabbed the boy by the back of his jacket and lifted him into the air.

The clone glanced at the design on the boy's shirt, before pointing to it "explain this"

"What's your problem?" A voice called, looking over, the three saw it was tall darker boy in a Superman shirt, with his arm around a smaller cheerleader "put my man Marvin... down"

"I-I-I don't think he likes my shirt!" The skater whimpered "your shirts, fine" Connor dropped the boy "everyone's shirt, is fine" he growled

"Someone's fine" the big guy's girlfriend said, and he stalked toward Connor, both teens glowering at each-other.

"Uh, sorry, we're new here" Megan said to the skater "that's Conmor Kent, and i'm Megan morse

"Double alliteration, nice" he said

A hand stopped the large teen.

Following the arm, he saw a tall (shorter than him) brunette with glasses on glaring at him.

"I wouldn't" she glared.

"Who are you?" Asked his girlfriend

"His cousin" "my cousin" the two supers chorused.

"Now will you be a good boy and go to class, or do I have to get a faculty member?"

The big guy stalked off, with his girlfriend in tow, shaking her head at his actions.

"Uh hey, i'm Wendy" a new girl walked up in another cheerleader uniform "I was new last year, so I know how hard it is to fit in" she turned to face Megan "but you look like instant Bumblebee material to me" at their blank look she elaborated "cheerleaders, the Bumblebees. Tryouts are after school" she walked past and into the school.

"Thanks, i'll be there" Megan called out.

As Connor and Megan entered, Marvin walked beside them "dude, facing down Mal Duncan? You and you cuz are fierce, not too bright, but fierce"

A while later, Supergirl sat on the roof of a diner, looking out over the city, when a transmission came in over her comm.

"Supergirl, do you copy?"

"I'm here Aqualad, what do you need?"

"Are you still in the vicinity of Happy Harbour?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I need you to return to the cave, immediately"

Kara stood and flew towards the mountain that overshadowed the town, flying directly to the other side, and into the hangar bay.

She walked to the ops area, where Aqualad was monitoring some peace conference in Taipei.

"You called?"

He turned to face the girl "yes, it seems that Red Arrow needs our help with a mission"

She scoffed "oh, mr. Solo needs the help of our 'Junior Justice League' huh?" She rolled her eyes and sighed "fine, but only to show him that we deserve his respect"

Aqualad nodded and the two made their way to the zeta-tubes, setting a course for one of the League's U.N charter zeta-tubes.

"Recognised: Aqualad B0-2, Supergirl B0-4"

They reappeared in a dingy alley near a noodle shop and an antique shop, before making their way to where Red Arrow had agreed to meet them. The penthouse of a high-rise building.

When they made it up inside, they found Red Arrow standing alone in the middle of the room

"You came too?" He asked the alien girl.

"Yes, is that an issue?"

He shook his head "if anything, it'll make things easier"

"Alright, now who exactly are we helping out here?"

Red sighed "in general, the peace summit, specifically... Lex Luthor"

"What!?" Kara yelled. Lex Luthor was one of her cousin's greatest enemies, and by effect, hers too.

"Calm down, this is for the uniting of the Rhelasias, not Luthor, i'm unhappy about it too" he threw a bag at her "put this on, your a reporter now"

As Kara pulled on the reporter disguise, Kaldur put on a civilian outfit too "who are you expecting to interfere?" He asked.

"The assassin Cheshire has already attempted an attack, but Sportsmaster and is here too, and I have word that Deathstroke the Terminator may be there"

"Deathstroke? what's an assassin group doing hiring a mercenary?" Kara asked.

"I don't know, but he's a threat anyway"

The three heroes made their way to the peace summit where the leaders of the two Rhelasias were arguing over the assassination attempts. Between them, Luthor attempted to cool the tension, as Red took his place at the stage, with Supergirl and Aqualad standing in the crowd below

"...Such as the exquisite art of the Rhelasian tea ceremony"

A woman in a geisha outfit pushed a cart forward. She was nearing the stage, when a Kaldur stopped her "that is far enough, Cheshire."

She frowned for a moment, and then smiled, pushing forward the cart which exploded moments later. When the smoke cleared, Kaldur was revealed to have erected a large shield of water around the gathered civilians. Just outside the shield, Kara's reporter disguise had been blown to shreds, showing off the Supergirl costume underneath.

The three heroes assembled. "It's over Cheshire" Red warned.

"You would think so" a helicopter flew out and hovered by the blown out wall. In it, several assassins, Sportsmaster, and per Red Arrow's warning, Deathstroke stood.

The South Rhelasian prime minister ordered his guards to fight off the assassins, as the three heroes faced off against the high-tier villains.

"Take the big guys, Cheshire's mine" Kara nodded and flew directly at Deathstroke, hitting him square in the jaw.

"Hello to you to" he pulled his swords out of their sheaths "like the new blades?" They were glowing bright green, like kryptonite. Someone knew Supergirl was going to be here...

"Shut up and fight" Kara pulled a spear from the ground where an antique set of armour once stood, and swung it at the mercenary, who blocked the attack with one sword, bringing the second down towards her head.

Kara rolled out of the way, and sprung up, intending to bring her own weapon down on Deathstroke's head. swung his words up, and the combined impact of both blades knocked the spear out of Supergirl's grip.

t"Face it, i've got more" she looked around frantically, and then noticed the massive golden statue beside her. She flew up, and pried most of the statue's golden spear out of it's hands.

"Face it, mine's bigger." Before she could attack the merc, a giant blue snake caught her attention, as Aqualad used his hydrokinesis to take out the assassin's and send the giant serpent at Sportsmaster.

Cheshire leapt in front of him, and threw an explosive into the snake's maw. It exploded and filled the room with a thick smoke, and when it cleared, the assassin's where gone.

Kara rejoined the other boys "they owe _him _their lives?" Red asked incredulous.

Back in the lobby of the peace summit hotel, the three heroes watched on as the treaty was signed.

"I can't _believe _we just did a _solid _for _Lex Luthor_" Arrow complained.

"Not for Luthor, for peace" Kaldur corrected "beyond that. If Ra's and the League of Shadows wanted to sabotage the summit, the signing of the treaty renders their contract moot."

Kara heard several reporters calling out for an interview from her. She looked down at her shirt "it's the 'S' isn't it?" She sighed and made her way over to the reporters, giving them a short interview about why she was at the peace summit, before flying away back to Metropolis. This had been the longest 'day off' of her life.

**Metropolis  
****September 16, 13:02 EDT**

"I'd like to order a banana, and a mixed berry" the girl at the counter nodded and went to retrieve the two drinks for Kara.

Kara, or Linda at the moment, was currently in a small café she liked a short ways away from the university. She picked up the drinks that had been placed on the counter before her, and returned to the table her friend had picked.

"Here you go, one mixed berry smoothie" she pushed the drink in front of the other girl.

"Thanks" Siobhan Smythe was a fellow student at Metropolis University. Originally from Ireland, she had come to America for family reasons about a year ago, and now went to the university doing various music oriented classes, while performing on her own sometimes.

"So, will ye come to my gig tomorrow?"

"What? Oh, yeah of course" Kara's head was elsewhere.

"Hey, where are ye?"

Kara sighed deeply "just... just got a lot on my plate"

"Well, nothing that can't be fixed with some music" the other girl smiled hopefully

An explosion outside brought their attention to several charred cars, deep cracks in the ground, and a man in a shining gold outfit, with a pair of scales attached to a staff. Libra.

They turned to each other.

"I left my toaster on" "I need to go pee" they chorused in unison, before running away.

Minutes later, the attack of Libra was cut short by a blur of red and blue knocking him to the side. Supergirl was left standing to one side.

"Ah, Supergirl. Normally your powers would leave me at a disadvantage, but allow me to... balance the scales, so to speak."

Libra lifted his staff high into the air, and brought it down into the ground, using the strength he stole from a previous opponent to split the earth. Kara avoided the attack however by simply floating above the ground.

"Need your scales checked?"

"No, but that Poison Ivy woman was rather pleasant though."

Suddenly, long, thick vines shot out from the earth and wrapped around Kara's ankle, dragging her to the ground, so that libra could swing his staff at her. When it connected, the vines let go, and the power of the hit sent her flying through the window of the café she had left just before.

"That looked painful" the villain taunted.

"See for yourself!" Behind him, a woman had leapt from the shadows. She was white and black, sporting a skull-like design on her face, icy blue eyes, and cropped white hair.

You see, Linda Lang and Siobhan Smythe were not only friends and classmates, but they were also both superheroes, Supergirl and Silver Banshee. The issue is that neither girl knew the other was a hero.

Silver Banshee screamed a forceful sound blast at Libra, sending him flying into the café too, and directly into Supergirl's waiting fist.

Kara picked up the man, flew outside, and tied him up with several light poles, before turning to the other heroine.

"Silver Banshee, you again"

"Sorry, but you looked like you needed some help" the Banshee told Kara in her... it"s, distorted voice.

Kara looked around at the collateral damage caused, and the police sirens closing in "let's talk elsewhere"

The two women left the area and walked down an alleyway.

"Not that I don't appreciate the help, but you're kind of stealing my thunder" Kara understood that all heroes did good work, but Silver Banshee had been muscling in on every one of Kara's personal battles for the past few weeks, and was never seen otherwise. "Aren't there ever any other crimes you can stop?"

"Well, uh, just that you-" she was cut off.

"And why do you seem so familiar?"

Siobhan had to think quick to avoid telling her secret to the other hero "well, I have a... relative, who goes to school at the local university, you look young enough to know her"

Kara was unsure "I guess" she thought Siobhan left her whole family in Ireland. She'd have to ask later.

"Look, I need to go, but we'll talk more about this later" the blonde didn't wait for a response before flying off into the skies.

* * *

**A/N ****I have no idea what possessed me to write in Kara having a car, because she may never use it again, ****like what the frack**


	10. Homefront

**Metropolis  
****September 22, 07:00 EDT**

The noise was horrible, loud and disruptive, preventing the blonde from getting the sleep she so desperately wanted.

"Kara... Kara, wake up" a hand nudged her.

"Goway" she batted the hand away

"Fine, I guess you don't want this super delicious cake" Kara's eyes snapped open, and she bolted from her room, into the apartment's main area.

"Cake?" She asked the dark room.

Suddenly the lights flicked on, and everything became visible. From the balloons and banner displaying large golden '20's, to the presents resting on a table, and finally the few people currently assembled in the room: her cousin Kal, his girlfriend Lois Lane, and of course her pseudo-aunt Lana Lang.

"Happy Birthday!" They yelled together.

A huge grin broke out across her face as Kara ran up to sweep the small group of people into a bone-crushing hug.

"Aww, you guys this is wait..." She cut herself off "i'm still mad at you" she turned away from her cousin.

"C'mon Kara, can't you not hate me? just for today?" she thought over in her head for a moment.

"...Fine" she turned and pulled him into a hug.

"First up, presents" she knew a lot about Earth customs from her time in Batman's quarantine, as all she had to entertain herself was a library of knowledge, and a dog that hated her. Birthday presents was one of her favourite things.

"Well, this is from me" Lois picked up a small box "I know we're not as acquainted as you are with the others, but your still Clark's cousin so..." Kara understood Lois preferred his Earth name.

Unwrapping the gift, Kara found a thin silver chain with an 'S' shield charm at the end. She pulled the necklace out of the box, and draped it over her neck "aww, I love it" she pulled lois into a short hug.

"Uh, this is from Wonder Woman" Superman picked up a long thin tube. Upon opening, Kara discovered it was a golden spear, like that which was used by some of the better warriors on Themyscira "awesome, tell her I said thanks"

"Also, Ma and Pa say happy birthday" he handed over a box filled with some of Mrs. Kent's home-baked cookies

"Aww, sweet. The things M'gann would do for this recipe" Kara placed the container aside.

"And this from me" he handed her another.

When opened, the box revealed an exact replica of her costume.

"It's my... uniform" she raised an eyebrow.

"Better. Lana" the man prompted her. Lana lifted a large knife she had taken, and stabbed it directly into the uniform, leaving a gaping hole in the fabric, but in seconds the threads knitted themselves back together, removing all traces of the tear.

"Martian Bio-tech, I had J'onn make it, the suit seals itself" Kal explained.

"This is so cool!" She pulled him into another hug.

"And here, this is from me" Lana gave her a large box with holes in the sides. When she held it, the box wriggled a little.

"Uh, Lana?" She was unsure.

"Ah, just open it you wimp"

Kara opened up the lid to find an orange and white striped tabby cat staring up at her. The girl gasped and lifted the feline out of the box, holding it up to her face.

"You got me a cat?"

"Yup, cats are one of the few animals not banned in the complex."

The animal attempted to claw Kara's face in a playful fashion, only to end up cracking it's own claw on her impervious face.

"Hey, no kitty, no!" Kara sternly told it off.

She placed down the cat so she could get used to his new home "so if that's all, i'm gonna go meet up with the team" she was about to ran back to her room and change into her new uniform when she was stopped.

"Wait, you've got one more" Kal stopped her.

"From who?" She turned back and picked up the box.

"Doesn't say" Lois informed.

"Kara warily opened up the box, and pulled out a bracelet. It was thick and silver, with elegant swirled designs on the outside. She tentatively pulled the band on, and only when nothing happened did she finally relax.

"It goes against my better instincts, but i'm gonna risk it for the day" Kara stared at the band "now is that all or?" Lana nodded at the girl's question, and Kara ran back to her room, slipped into her new uniform, and pulled her Linda disguise on over it, before running out, shouting goodbyes as she went.

As she walked, she contemplated the new life she had made on Earth. Back on Krypton, today would be the day she finally chose a guild to join. She would've worked with her mother in the science guild of course, despite her father and the art guild's insistence. While she felt a pang in her heart at the people she'd never see again, parents included, a smile still crept on her face. Now she had powers, and now she could truly help those in need.

Eventually she came across an alleyway with an old phone box in it. Stepping in, kara brushed aside an old tie and pair of glasses to input her destination, the cave.

"Recognised: Supergirl, B0-4"

Suddenly she was standing in the cave's main ops area, seeing Aqualad in front of her.

"Hey Kaldur, what's up?" She asked, pulling off her disguise.

"Red Tornado just left for monitor duty at the Watchtower" they fell into step on their way to the hangar, where the others most likely were.

"I thought he was pulled off the list to play den mother?"

"He said he was covering, as Green Arrow is on a 'hot date' "

"Hot date?" She chuckled.

"His words, not mine"

"It's Artemis's first day of school, isn't it?" Kara suddenly asked.

"Yes, it is. Do you think with her new responsibilities she will maintain loyalty to the team?" He asked.

"Weird question, but she's a good kid, despite what Wally says"

"And how about you? Are you handling working with the team and your studies in Metropolis well?"

"I admit, it's a bit hard trying to be Supergirl _and_ Linda, but this team, and Supergirl, is my chance to help the people _without _powers. Feels good to do it."

They entered the hangar, where Wally was kneeling beside Connor's bike, with Connor, M'gann and sphere gathered around.

"Torque wrench" M'gann hovered the item into Wally's hand "thank you green cheeks"

"I have been meaning to ask" Aqualad said as they walked up "any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?"

"No" Wally replied "juggling's just _one _of my talents. Socket wrench"

"Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge" M'gann said "oh, but my first loyalty is always to the team. This team, not the Bumblebees."

"Artemis starts school today" Kaldur brought up again "Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?"

Wally shook his head no "nah, she'll manage all right. I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can-"

The boy was cut off by an explosion, and a powerful inferno coursing into the hangar.

The team panicked and attempted to escape via the lower area, but a huge torrent of water blocked their exit.

Moments later, they were surrounded of fire and water. Two figures stood to either side, silhouetted by the respective elements.

Kara lifted off the ground, ready to fly forwards and take out the attackers, when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Activate: Kryptonite Submission Bracer: K-1" and the metal casing around the bracelet on Kara's wrist fell off, revealing it to be the glowing green rock of any Kryptonian's nightmares. Before she could remove it, a thick metal rod speared through the flesh of her wrist, pinning the bracer on, and throwing Kara into a metaphorical pit of pain, throbbing up her arm in unison with the effect of the rock currently attached.

Looking for a quick way out, Kara spied a ventilation grate through the flickering of the fire. She ran for it, and was fortunate enough that the attackers were preoccupied with capturing her teammates. She felt guilty about leaving them, but knew that if she could get to the zeta-tubes, she could leave and get the league to help.

Kara eventually made it to the main ops area/zeta-tubes, but was stopped from leaving when they whirred to life.

"Recognised: Robin B0-1" apparently the attackers followed her, as Robin didn't even have time to greet Kara before the inferno spread into the room.

"Recognised: Artemis B0-8."

Kara ran at Artemis as she appeared and pulled her down to avoid a volley of fireballs.

"Who are we fighting?!" Artemis demanded.

"I don't know!" Kara yelled back "they attacked too fast to see"

"Look, we're sitting ducks by these tubes! Head for the exit!" Robin ordered.

They ran to an exit hallway before they were stopped by a flood of water barreling toward them.

"Or not" he said.

With fire behind, and water ahead, the three were trapped by the assailants.

The flood hit them first, almost drowning them in the water, before they recovered and swam towards the gym of the cave.

"Robin to Team!" Robin cried, pressing a hand to his ear "Aqualad, can you hear me?!"

"Rob, stop" Kara halted him "they were overwhelmed in the initial attack. I don't know how they are now though."

"Kara, why can't you just stop them yourself!?" Artemis exclaimed.

"This is why!" Kara's arm shot out to give the archer a good look at the glowing rock stuck to her wrist, and the blood slowly trickling out of the wound.

"Jesus, what..."

"Someone gave it to me as an anonymous gift, I didn't realise it was kryptonite until it was too late" Kara frowned at the pain in her arm "i'm just fortunate the rod keeping the bracelet on isn't kryptonite, or i'd be doomed."

An explosion hit the room, forcing them to flee into one of the shower blocks. The three ran to each of the shower-heads, and turned them on to prevent another fire-attack.

"Maybe we can reach the League from here"

"Robin to Batcave! Override R-G-4! Cave calling Justice League! H-O-J/Watchtower! B-Zero-One! Priority red!"

"Comms are down" Kara sighed, removing her hand from her own ear.

"At least the water's helping," Robin muttered.

Load creaking noises began to echo around the room until suddenly, all of the shower-heads burst off, and the room quickly flooded with more water. Robin swam to one wall and placed an explosive disc on it, breaking the wall down. The three flooded out into the hall and immediately broke into a sprint to get to the kitchen.

"We need to get lost somehow," Robin said.

They turned to a vent that overlooked the stovetop in the kitchen, before tearing it off and crawling into the metal shaft.

"Do we know where to go?" Kara asked.

"Yeah" Robin confirmed "I downloaded the cave blueprints"

They crawled through the vents in silence for a time, before Robin spoke "Go left!" He ordered, and seconds after turning, a jet of fire burst along where they had been moments before.

Robin sighed "too close."

They resumed crawling until Robin gave some more instructions "take the first right. There should be a vent cover right in front of you."

Artemis opened up the cover, and they slipped out into a room filled with power generators and boilers. "this way," he said, descending a set of stairs. The girls followed, until an explosion rocked them from the side.

Turning, Kara noticed one of the two figure standing amongst the flames. A woman.

They stopped by a large generator that had a display showing it was overheating. Pipes in the room burst open from the heat and pressure, spitting hot steam into the air.

Artemis opened up another vent cover, and the three slipped through it, before Robin halted them.

He began to hack something on his glove, before speaking "locking out cave heat and motion sensors to keep the enemy from tracking us."

"And I ask again, who is the enemy?" Artemis turned to Kara.

"I don't know, but there's two. We were standing in the hangar, talking about... stuff, when we were attacked by two people controlling fire and water" she sighed "but, I bet they're okay"

"Right now though, we need to find the quickest route to the hangar" Robin pulled up the cave schematics.

Artemis slumped "yeah, they're fine. They've all got superpowers. They can handle anything," she sounded unconvinced.

"Here," Robin pointed to the blueprints "cut through here and enter the library via secret entrance."

They made their way through the vents with renewed vigour, until they finally made it out, and into the cave's library.

"There's a secret passage behind one of these bookshelves," Robin said, continuing to lead the girls.

"Seriously?" Artemis scoffed "cliché much?"

"You should see the Batcave" Robin said.

"Artemis, Robin, Supergirl" a voice called out. It sounded just like Red Tornado.

"It's Red Tornado!" Artemis exclaimed, running out from behind the shelves.

Kara remembered the voice commanding the activation of her bracer "Artemis, wait!"

They turned the corner to see a tall red robot, but instead of yellow arrows and 'T's like Tornado, he had arrows stylised as a trident.

"Yes on the Red!" Robin yelled "no on the Tornado!"

They ran from the Red along the bookshelves, causing them to collapse in a domino fashion. Hit licked them from all around, causing the sprinklers to set off in the room. Eventually, one bookshelf was hit but didn't collapse, and Robbin immediately set about pulling the books until he found the trick one

"Did you two know Tornado had siblings?!" Artemis exclaimed.

"I didn't know what L.O.L meant until a week ago" Kara retorted.

"So now what?!" the human girl demanded "Red Tornado is one of the League's powerhouses! How are we supposed to take down two of him?!"

"Well, they do seem pretty user-unfriendly," Robin joked.

"Don't joke!" Artemis snapped. Kara was about to reassure her when the mystery Red's voice spoke over the cave P.A system.

"Attention Robin. Attention Supergirl. Attention Artemis. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished" Fifteen seconds passed "nine minutes and forty-five seconds."

They began to run again with a new sense of haste due to their friend's impending doom.

"Eight minutes."

"We can access the hangar from here," Robin said, before a torrent of water blocked their path "or not."

"Will you please stop saying that?!" Artemis cried in hysteria. When the water hit, Robin quickly pulled out a rebreathing device, while Kara simply held her breath.

Turning, they saw the Red swimming at them faster than they could escape. Robin fired a grapple down the hall, before taking hold of the two girls and rocketing down the hall to safety, leaving a line of explosive discs to slow the Red down.

They surfaced in the hangar, and saw that Wally and Connor had been welded into place woth the remains of Connor's bike. Sphere had been buried half in a wall, amd Kaldur and M'gann where trapped in a cage of fire.

"Look out!" Kid called out. A fireball was narrowly dodged by the three.

Once the danger had passed, they swam to Kid and Superboy "you guys okay?"

"Forget us!" Superboy shouted "help M'gann!" The slightly suspicious comment was lost in the enormity of the situation.

"Heads up," Robin said. They ducked under the water again and swam for the stairs leading up to the platform Kaldur and M'gann were trapped on.

They lifted themselves onto the stairway and were about to assist their friends when they were stopped. One android at the top of the stairs, one at the bottom, and a raging blitz of fire and water threatening to be their doom

Artemis's quiver was almost empty, Supergirl was literally powerless, and Robin couldn't take on both Reds on his own.

The boy gave all he could to slow them, but the three heroes were forced to retreat into the water again. They swam underneath and emerged in a small service tunnel.

"Six minutes."

"What do we do now?!" Artemis exclaimed.

"We save them," Robin replied "that's how it works."

Kara frowned and clutched her arm tightly. The dull throb of the kryptonite's effects were beginning to develop into a splitting pain.

Artemis glared "maybe that's how it's _supposed_ to work, but those robots already took out our four super-powered friends!"

"You seem distraught," Robin said.

"Distraught?! M'gann is dying! We have no powers! Kara has a death-rock bolted to her wrist! and I'm down to my last arrow!" Artemis screamed "Of course I'm distraught!"

"Well get traught or get dead!" He left them to follow

"How" Kara grunted in pain "how are you so- so calm?" she asked the boy

"Practice," Robin replied "I've been doing this since I was nine."

"What use it that against psychotic machines" she raised an eyebrow.

Robin smacked himself "duh! They're machines!" He grinned "and one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."

"Great!" Artemis said "except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt! Because I know I don't have one in my quiver."

"Fresh out" Robin's smile never faltered "but i'm betting we can make one," Robin opened up his comms "what do you say, KF? doable?"

"Totally doable!" it dawned on Supergirl that Robin must have thrown a birdarang at Kid to set up a way of contacting them.

"Five minutes."

"Y'know… if… you had more time…" Kid's enthusiasm died out.

Kara activated her own comm "trust me, we have the time" Kara knew a little about electromagnetism from looking in on her mother's work as a little girl.

"To the Med bay, there's an X-ray machine in there" Kara took the lead

"For the vircator right?" Wally asked "converts high energy pulses" he clarified for the other two... or Artemis at least.

"We need to reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-rays to EMPs" Kara narrated.

"Should be possible with a cascading energy vector directed outward" Wally informed over comm.

Kara's hands worked as carefully and deftly as they could. Robin and Artemis helped her.

"A ripple effect," Robin realised "like dropping a stone in a pond."

"A stone with ten to the third power wattage, yeah," Kid Flash said.

"We need to attach it to the main generator though" Kara frowned

"Which is… where?" Artemis asked.

Kara and Robin shared a concerned look.

The three made their way back to the hangar as quickly yet quietly as possible. It wouldn't pay to alert the psycho-bots.

As Robin went to set the impromptu EMP up, he called for Superboy and Kid to distract the androids, which the two did by bragging about how their powers gave them the ability to escape with ease.

As Robin went to attach the EMP under Artemis's guard, Kara carefully crept down to the ground to try and attack the androids from behind. It was going well until the other girl's voice echoed around the large room

"Guys, look out!"

Kara turned just in time to see Robin swept up by a massive jet of water, and the fire-weilding bot turn to her. Kara began to run away when the android fired a powerful blast of fire at her, singing the skin of her arm. Her suit quickly healed over the hole where she had been hit, but the newfound pressure of the clothing on her now vulnerable burnt skin, mixed with the symphony of pain throbbing along her arms from two different sources caused Kara to black out from a pain-overload.

**Mount Justice  
****September** **22, 20:21 EDT**

Kara woke to sound of her cousin gently rousing her.

Her eyes opened, and all she could see where the concerned baby blues of Superman "Kara, you okay?"

She grunted and nodded, before sitting up. The next thing she noticed was that the others where being treated by the rest of the League, and that the villainous Reds were gone.

At that thought, the entire night's events unfolded before her eyes. She lifted her wrist to inspect the bracer, but found it was gone, leaving only a tightly wrapped bandage.

"Batman removed the kryptonite device to be inspected later. He believes it may hold a clue as to where Tornado went" Kal said.

"Tornado?" how much had she missed?

"Kara was not yet conscious when Tornado betrayed us" Kaldur explained.

The girl in question closed her eyes and sighed deeply "literally the worst birthday ever." Her whole team turned to stare at her.

"It was your birthday today?" M'gann broke the silence.

Kara nodded, and was soon bombarded with hugs and apologies. Finally the Martian girl was done, and the others stepped forwards to apologise too.

"Guys, I'm fine... Besides, it's not like _you _all bolted a piece of kryptonite to my arm."

"Uh, happy birthday" Artemis smiled.

Kara thanked her, and dismissed herself, telling everyone that she really just need a long sleep, before hobbling to the zeta-tubes with her cousin.

**Metropolis  
****September 22, 20:34 EDT**

By the time Kara had made it back to the apartment, she was ready to collapse and sleep forever. She opened up the door and stepped in to see her pseudo-aunt attempting to clean up a butchered pizza, and keep Kara's cat busy, who was now coated with thick streaks of tomato sauce.

"Uh, got a great idea what to name your cat."


	11. Alpha Male

**Mount Justice  
****September 23, 06:34 EDT**

After the attack by the reds, and Tornado's subsequent betrayal, or hacking, who knows with an android, the team were shaken.

They sat around at a table, excepting Aqualad with Batman and Kara with Superman, while the League rebuilt the base, and tried to calm their tempers.

Supergirl stood off to the side with her cousin trying to discuss how they managed to figure out where Kara lived, and send a kryptonite bracer there.

"I'm not sure, but maybe T. still had a link to Red Tornado's memories. I haven't been exactly quiet around some of the League" her cousin admitted. She couldn't blame him, they all trusted Tornado before, and look where they were now.

"It's not your fault, we couldn't have seen this coming" she smiled at him "besides, they were obviously smart enough to recognise me as the greatest threat" Kara flexed arm arm for humorous effect, but it was still true. She was technically the biggest powerhouse of the team, so the Reds must have found a way to target her specifically.

"Keep thinking that way" Kal chuckled "you should go sit with your friends, I think it's time I head home" Kara nodded and hugged her cousin one last time before returning to her seat with the team.

Green Arrow placed a bowl of pretzels in front of Kid Flash, and Black Canary placed a somewhat pitiful cupcake with a singular candle in front of Supergirl. It was probably to make up for her birthday yesterday. Kara thanked her and slowly began to pick away at it.

"Thanks, but no thanks" Wally said, pushing the pretzels away.

"What we want are answers," Robin said.

"What happened with Red Tornado?" Kara demanded

"Yeah" Wally agreed "leave the bowl" he muttered as Green Arrow tried to take them back.

"We're working on it," Black Canary reassured. "Batman has placed it as his highest priority."

"You knew?!" Superboy roared out of nowhere. He ran at Aqualad, who had been discussing with Batman off to one side, and pinned him to the wall "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"

"Okay, first of all Connor they almost killed all of us but, what happened?" Kara stepped between the boys, prying them apart.

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Conner told her.

"You knew!?" Robin asked incredulously.

"And didn't tell us!?" Wally demanded.

"I sought to protect the Team from–" Kaldur started.

"Protect us from what!?" Artemis cut off angrily. "Knowledge that might've saved our lives?"

"Enough," ordered Batman.

The team grudgingly shut up, and listened to the Dark Knight. "With Red Tornado… missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."

A man walked forward. He was a big and as well built as Superman, and had on a red, white and gold outfit, with a large lighting bolt on the chest.

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You _will_ leave it to us." Batman threatened.

Multiple screens popped up displaying a story about the Gotham Mayor being attacked "I have another assignment for this team."

"Gotham Mayor Attacked by Guerrilla Gorilla?" Wally read aloud.

"Batman, please!" Robin cried, "tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase!"

"I never joke about the mission," Batman's eyes narrowed, giving an infamous Bat-Glare "I've checked the sources. I've traced the patterns. Mayor Hill is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check things out."

As the team and Captain Marvel left, Kid Flash scoffed at Kaldur "_Your_ team."

**Northern India  
****September 23, 21:36 IST**

The bio-ship, in camouflage mode of course, made it to the jungle Mayor Hill was attacked in, and hovered over a small clearing. Artemis and Robin leapt out to survey the immediate area.

"All clear," Robin reported when the rest of the team joined them.

"Switch to stealth," Aqualad ordered, pressing the symbol on his belt "and we'll review mission parameters."

"Parameters?" Kid Flash also activated his stealth suit "we don't need no stinkin' parameters."

"It's recon, we know what to do," Robin agreed.

"Kid, Robin!" Aqualad protested.

"The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us!" Robin gestured to themselves and Kara.

Kid pushed his goggles down "or did you forget about that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?"

They turned and left together.

"Usually I'd take any chance to prove Kid Dipstick wrong" Kara said "but you really screwed up this time Aqualad, I'll see you guys later"

She took off into the skies, and flew around, just above the trees for a while, keeping her eyes open for any strange movement.

"I can't believe him!" She spoke to herself "what part of his actions are good teamwork? none of them is what!" She rolled her eyes and touched down on a tall tree, narrowing her eyes into infrared to survey further.

A snapping noise behind start,ed her, and she turned to find... nothing, "what the-" another crack, and an almost chimp-like whining dragged her attention somewhere else.

"Okay, show yourself" she muttered. Suddenly, she sensed a presence behind her, and her head snapped around to find a monkey, slightly larger than usual, staring at her with big dark eyes.

"Oh, just a monkey" she chuckled in relief, "hey little guy, you alone?" Her question was answered when a dozen more monkeys appeared around it.

"Aww, there's more of you-" her cooing was interrupted when the first monkey let out an incredibly loud screech, and the others attacked.

Kara screeched in fright, and fell backwards off the tree as several of the beasts scratched at her face, and body.

"Get off!" She grabbed one on her face and pried it off, kicking it away into the air, before flying up as well at an extreme speed, causing some more to lose their grip and fall off too.

She turned in the air, ignoring the primate pulling at her shirt, and cannoned down into a large tree, where the branches whipped and smacked several more monkeys off her, until she was left standing on the ground with one more scratching her arm.

She pulled it off and inspected the collar it wore "strange" she then pulled it off, and let the monkey down. It took a short whiff of her boot, and scurried away.

A voice echoed through her skull _"__Link established__."_

_"Should he really still be giving us orders? And should you really be following them?"_Artemis referenced Aqualad.

_"Listen, please"_ Aqualad pleaded.

_"__Oh, great. Aqualad's voice in my head__" _Kid Flash sarcastically said_"__I've _so_ missed that.__"_

_"Hey Kaldur! KF, and I were attacked by giant vultures!__" _Robin informed _"'__Course since we're moles, you probably think we__attacked__ ourselves."_

_"If he did, he wouldn't tell you"_ Artemis continued.

_"Wait, you too? _I_ got _monkeys_" _Supergirl added.

_"Superboy, are you online or just pouting?"_ Miss Martian asked.

_"Busy. Call back later,"_ Superboy replied.

_"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us"_Kid Flash complained

_"Well, he should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant__" _Robin agreed in his usual prefix removing way.

The entire team began to argue about trust, Aqualad's leadership, and Connor's overprotectiveness, with Supergirl throwing in comments about how she should have taken leadership.

_"Enough!" _Kaldur mentally ordered _"__Captain Marvel has been captured__, and __we must act as a team to save him."_

Wally scoffed _"under__ your leadership? I don't think__–__"_

_"This is not up for debate__" _Aqualad interrupted _"you __all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time, I__am in command here."_

_"Okay" _Kara agreed _"I guess now is a good time to say I found something" _during the commotion in her head a moment ago, she had located a large building with tall pylons outside of it _"just come to my coordinates, but stay quiet, I don't know what security this place has"_

The team, sans Superboy, arrived at her location shortly after, where Wally and Robin used their equipment to survey, and Kara switched through her various enhanced visions to do the same

_"I'll fly over and check it out,"_ Miss Martian said.

_"No, those towers are keeping up some kind of energy dome" _Kara informed.

_"__Pylons __are insulated, but one good shock could cause a momentary gap"_ Robin informed.

Kara narrowed her eyes and, using telescopic vision, located a small power box _"Artemis, fuse box, over there" _she pointed it out.

_"__I see it__" _Artemis nodded.

_"Be ready to hit it,"_ Aqualad ordered _"Be ready__… __all of you__" _Aqualad silently sprinted out of the forest, and next to the dome, before placing his hands on the invisible surface, and sending thousands of volts of electricity through it, creating a small gap on the shield.

As soon as the gap appeared, Artemis fired an arrow through it, which cut through the air, and hit dead in the centre of the fuse box, shutting down all of the pylons.

The team advanced and stood outside of the building when something caught Supergirl's eye. Looking up, she saw a monkey, bigger than normal, sitting atop the entrance of the place.

"Not you again!" She complained out loud.

"Supergirl, what-" Aqualad was cut off when the monkey let out a screech, and a hoard of more monkeys came out from behind and attacked the team, excepting Miss Martian who was in camouflage mode.

Several pounced onto Kara and began to scratch her face and body. She grabbed the ape clinging to her face, and inspected it, noticing a bruise on it's chest where she no doubt kicked it earlier.

"We meet again" she was about to kick the thing away again, but she remembered something.

"Tear the collars off!" She shouted at the same time as Kaldur, and tore the piece of machinery off it's neck.

"They make it look easy" Robin complained from where he was grappling with several primates.

Artemis caught a break from the vicious attack, and aimed a few arrows at the beasts attacking the boy Wonder, before loosing, each one hitting the collars off.

Robin returned the favour by throwing several discs at Artemis, which flew right into several more monkey collars, slicing them off.

Looking to the entrance, Kara saw a large gorilla with a machine gun and a red beret standing there. Suddenly, it reached out to thin air, and threw a formally invisible Miss M to the ground.

"Keep your paws off her you damn, dirty ape!" Kid Flash growled, charging towards the primate. The speedster hit the gorilla, but was knocked back and onto the ground.

Kara, now free of the monkeys, turned to see the gorilla about to attack M'gann again.

"Hey Curious George" she shouted. The beast turned to her, but only received a fist to the face, knocking him into the wall nearby.

Miss Martian stood and used her telepathy to lift the gorilla and throw him into the wall, causing it to collapse, and the primate to fly into a hallway inside.

The team ran in, and found the gorilla had moved away, and now stood beside a short robot with a large brain floating inside a jar.

"It's the Brain!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

"Ugh!" Artemis groaned. "I can see it's a brain!"

"No, he means _the _Brain. As in... that" Kara pointed to the criminal mastermind.

"In the flesh… eh, so to speak," the Brain agreed in it's strong french accent "Mallah."

The gorilla now known as Mallah activated a small device, causing three pylons to pop out of the ground, activating a triangular gravity field that caused the team to collapse on the ground, excluding Kara.

"What!?" Brain shouted.

"Krypton had a lot of gravity" she shrugged, before waltzing up to the shocked pair, and pinch-crushing the remote, switching off the gravity field.

Another wall broke down, and in jumped Superboy with a huge white wolf. The boy had scratch and bite marks on his arms and shoulder, which indicated this was why he was 'busy' earlier.

The gorilla roared fiercely "Try it," Connor goaded. "I hate monkeys."

"No, Mallah," Brain called to the primate "this will not be our Waterloo. Au revoir, mes amis." A plethora of strange machinery and devices popped out of various compartments in Brain's body, as two wing-like structures unfolded on his back.

"GET DOWN!" Kid Flash yelled. Everything went pitch black.

Moments later the lights came on again, but Brain and Mallah were gone.

"Wait" Kid started "that big weapon thing was… a light switch?"

The team made their way back to the bio-ship, including the wolf and a large tiger that accompanied Captain Marvel.

They made it back and the tiger had every animal in the jungle come to that spot so their collars could be pulled off. It took a while, but every animal was eventually freed.

"Are you sure that was the last one?" Kaldur asked the tiger, which grunted in positive reply.

"And I can trust you to keep the other animals in line?" the Captain inquired "i'll come back and visit" and with that the tiger ran back into the jungle "I think i'l name him Mister Tawny" the Leaguer said.

A small whimpering caught the teams attention, where a monkey had come out and sat next to Kara's boot.

"Oh, uh, hey little buddy..." the creature sniffed the shoe, and screamed again, causing a dozen more monkeys to run out of the tree line and tackle Kara to the ground, her screaming all the while, only instead of scratching and fighting, they all hugged and petted her like doting children, and left.

"I am still ready to resign leadership if you'd like" Aqualad offered.

"All in favour of keeping Aqualad as leader?" All but Kara raised their hands.

The team looked to her hopefully, and after a moment of internal debate, her hand slowly raised, and a smile spread across her face "who am I kidding, no one's better than you"

The team walked back onto the ship, Superboy's wolf following.

"What _are_ you gonna name him?" M'gann asked Connor.

"What's wrong with Wolf?" He asked.

"Well, not exactly as creative as Krypto, but it works" his kinda-cousin assured.

**A/N so... Better late than never, right?**


	12. Birthday

**Metropolis  
****September 25, 06:30 EDT**

Someone was at the door, knocking vigourously. The sound was too much for Lana, who had just been rudely woken by the demon cat Streaky for a feeding.

She went over to the door and opened it, finding two girls with painfully cheery smiles, one blonde and one red head.

"Uh... we don't want any cookies?" She said.

"Oh no, we're here to see K... Linda" the red head smiled.

"I'm Artemis and she's Megan" the blonde supplied.

Lana turned around "Kara, get your freaky but out here some girls are looking for you" she shouted, before ushering the girls inside.

"Uh, you said Kara just now" Artemis noticed.

"That's cause your Artemis" at the girl's blank and slightly worried expression, she elaborated "How many Artemises do _you _know that aren't a hero" the woman raised a brow.

"True" Megan turned and saw a little orange furry cat sitting nearby, staring at her "oh, who is this?!" She cooed, going over to pick the cat up.

"I wouldn't do that" a new voice interrupted. Kara now stood in the room, her hair a mess from sleep "Streaky is the devil incarnate, she has a thing against faces" she stepped further inside "why are you guys here?"

"Well, since your birthday was ruined a few days ago, M'gann and I decided to make it up to you" Artemis explained.

"Oh... Well I appreciate the thought but you guys _really _don't have to do this" the eldest reasoned.

"We know, but we also _really _wanted to give you the birthday you deserve" M'gann gave that puppy-esque face that could melt thousands of Batmen.

"Well... Okay then, but you still didn't have to come all the way to Metropolis" Kara was struggling to argue against this.

"Stop fighting it" Lana urged "go out and have some fun, you won't be twenty forever."

Kara sighed and left the room to change, muttering about freezing herself just to spite Lana.

Moments later, the blonde reentered the room looking much more awake than before, wearing her brown wig and glasses, carrying a large handbag.

"Okay, let's go" she led them out and downstairs to the lobby of the apartment block. Leaving the building all-together, she turned to the other girls "so what are we doing today?" She expected them to have planned a day out for her, judging by their words.

"Well, I thought we could go to the mall first" M'gann offered "that _is _something earth-teens do, right?" Both alien girls turned to Artemis expectantly.

"Uh, I guess?" She shrugged "good enough for me!" M'gann grinned. She grabbed both the other girl's wrists, and dragged them in one direction, before freezing, and going the other way.

"You don't know where it is, do you?" Kara smiled.

"Uhh, no" the Martian laughed, smiling sheepishly.

"C'mon, we'll take a cab" she stepped over to the curb, and raised one hand, while sticking two fingers of the other into her mouth to whistle a taxi over. A rather average looking cab pulled up, with a slightly dented rear-bumper, and a pair of fuzzy dice clearly dangling off the rear-view mirror.

They climbed in and Kara relayed their destination to the driver from her place in the front seat. Turning around over the centre console, she faced the two in the back "so what else were you planning for today?"

"Well" Megan held the word "not much, exactly"

"She means we're making it up as we go" Artemis explained.

"Okay, that's comforting" Kara sarcastically remarked, turning back to look forward.

After a short drive, the cab pulled up outside of a large shopping centre near the middle of Metropolis, and the girls piled out once Kara paid the fare, after she had violently argued that she'd do it of course.

They entered the mall and walked over to a directory, trying to decide where to begin.

"Well we _have _to go clothes shopping, that's obvious" Megan stated.

"And maybe we could check out that sport supply shop too" Artemis added.

"I'm thinking, food court, and other places too, but mainly food court" Kara finished.

After a few more minutes of debate, they agreed to visit the sport supply store, because it was where they would buy the least, if anything. For the full hour they were there, M'gann went back and forth admiring the devices she hadn't understood, while Artemis criticised the quality of everything she saw, especially the archery section.

Kara stood by the entrance awkwardly. She wasn't exactly having fun, but she didn't want to hurt the other girls' feelings by telling them that.

Finally after too much time doing nothing in the sports store, the trio moved on to browse various clothing shops, only entering every third store, yet managing to amass a sizeable wardrobe of new clothes- not all of which being what one would cal 'fashionable -and they finally moved back to the centre of the mall where a large food court was.

They looked around the tables and finally decided on one near the ladies bathroom. Kara elected to sit down while the other two went up to the multiple counters and bought their own food, before returning and allowing the 'birthday girl' to do the same, after which she returned with a tray of what could have passed for a three-course meal.

"Wow, think you got enough?" Artemis laughed.

"Uhh, I don't know, I wasn't sure if the sushi was worth it" the taller blonde replied honestly "you were being sarcastic, weren't you?" She realised, and the archer nodded slowly.

"This is nice" M'gann smiled "we should do it again... I mean, not ruin your birthday, just come here... Unless you don't want to, because then-"

"Megan" Kara hushed her "it's okay, I know what you meant, and I guess I agree" she gave a disarming smile to the panicked martian, who calmed down at the gesture.

"Anyway, you two got an idea on where we could go next?" Artemis asked.

"Well, I was kinda hoping you guys could surprise me" the 'birthday girl' replied.

"Is this a ploy to get out of doing brain work?" The human raised a brow.

"Uh... Yes and no" Kara smiled.

"Hello Megan, how about we visit a cinema?"

"Good idea, we'll just wait for _her _to finish her Everest of food" Artemis agreed.

"More of a Kilimanjaro" Kara weakly defended before taking a large bite of burrito.

A flash of movement caught Artemis's eye, and she looked away to face the rest of the court. Nothing seemed suspicious, discounting the large man in a trench coat leaving the men's room on the other end.

"Wash up?" Kara asked through a mouthful of spicy mince meat.

"That guy" Artemis nodded "he looks like he's hiding something"

She was moments away from standing to confront him, when a loud gunshot rang out. The food court fell into disarray as the suspicious man stepped onto a table, now brandishing a large assault rifle, and wearing a red mask over the top half of his head.

"Everybody hit the ground, now!" He yelled as anyone not in the immediate vicinity of the eating establishments sprinted away.

"I'm not lookin' for money, and I'm not lookin' to kill, so just shut up and stay down!" He fired again for effect.

The three girls hot the ground as well and M'gann hastily set up a mental link for them to coordinate their attack"

_'Okay, I have a plan' _Kara reassured.

_'Yeah, like what?!'_ Artemis demanded.

_'I'm gonna try to subtly use my laser vision to break the table he's on, so we can retreat to the bathroom, and regroup, okay?'_

_'Okay, please be careful' _M'gann pleaded.

Moment later, and following a thin line of super-heated red light, a leg of the table the man was on snapped, and her toppled to the ground, allowing the three girls to rush into the bathroom.

_'Okay, we're here, but now what?' _Artemis asked.

_'We thank Kara that she always plans ahead' _as she thought this, Kara zipped open the handbag she had taken with her, revealing tightly packed Supergirl and Artemis uniforms.

_'Thank you Kara' _Artemis grinned.

_'We may have outfits now' _said Miss M having just shifted into her usual uniform _'but Artemis still doesn't have a weapon'_

The human closed her eyes in thought for a moment, before remembering the 'sub-par' archery section of the sports store earlier _'yes I do'_ she thought, looking to a ventilation grate sitting above the bathroom sinks.

She stood and leapt onto the porcelain fixture, slipped the vent cover off, and carefully slid into the tight metal shaft.

The two remaining girls waited anxiously until the blonde reemerged from the vents, now carrying a bright red and black compound bow with a bunch of normal arrows.

_'I won't be able to zap him or whatever without my trick arrows, but I can make do wit this'_ she explained.

_'Good, now lets's stop this guy'_

Supergirl led the way back out into the tense death-zone, and carefully crept toward the huddled crowd of hostages.

"They don't think I'm serious" the man grumbled to his himself "I'll show them, Bloodsport is _always _serious" he reached down and jerked up a young man in his late teens "I know you cops can hear me, and you know what I want. Give it to me, or I start shootin'"

A few silent moments passed "alright then" Bloodsport pulled a pistol from one of many holsters all over his body, and pressed it to the hostage's temple "one down!" He called out. A mere moments before he squeezed the trigger though, his arm jerked upwards, and forced him to fire into the ceiling.

Angered, Bloodsport threw his would-be-victim down, and whirled on the three girls who stood in a defiant formation on the other end of the area.

"I was paid to kill a Super_man, _but I can settle for a Super_girl_... For now" he raised his gun again, pointed straight at Kara's unflinching head, and fired.

Artemis thought quick and tackled the girl to the ground before anything could happen.

"Artemis, what are you doing!?" The girl cried.

In response, the archer hurried over on all fours to where the bullet impacted and pitifully bounced off a now heavily dented metal support beam. She picked up the offending object, and scurried back over to the incredulous Kryptonian "saving your life" she held it up, and Kara recoiled at the sight of the slightly glowing green mineral.

"Whoever hired this guy _really _wants to kill your cousin, and has some _serious _connections to be able to access this stuff" Artemis explained.

"Got it, don't get shot" Kara nodded and stood back up and faced off against the assailant.

"Who hired you!?" She demanded. He only grinned sickly, and unholstered his assault rifle once again.

"Doesn't matter little girl, you'll be dead soon enough" he fired the weapon at her once again, and she rushed to the left, circling the court faster than the bullets could reach her as he fired with a maniacal grin.

But bloodsport had made a big mistake, and that was discounting the abilities of Supergirl's companions.

M'gann attempted to stop his assault by throwing food trays and chairs at him with her mind, while Artemis tried firing arrows at the man. He was, however, able to deflect these attacks by continuing to fire wildly, tearing up the objects mid-flight. Miss Martian was forced to ditch her efforts and telekinetically push helpless hostages out of the way of his fire, and Artemis ducked behind a support beam when a hail of bullets barely missed her.

But the multitasking drained Bloodsport, and he was too forced to stop his own attacks, giving Kara ample time to stop circling the food court, and instead aim her next move at him.

She propelled herself forward, and sped directly into the assassin's midsection, tackling him through various walls until they came to a stop in a heap of now unhooked clothing.

Bloodsport floundered in the garments, and panicked when the three heroes regroup by the hole Kara had made. He grabbed a shotgun strapped to his lower back, and fired it at them, a shot they were forced to jump away from.

"You think Bloodsport is gonna let a buncha little girls beat him!?" He roared "I'm the best damn assassin in the world!"

"Ugh, more like the most annoying" mocked Artemis as she sat up from her landing point.

"I'm gonna put a bullet in your brain Supergirl!" Bloodsport cried as he stood once again, his shotgun in one hand, and his assault rifle in the other "and then I'll kill Superman with you body at my feet!"

_'He certainly does like to monologue'_ M'gann told the girls via their mind-link.

"_Then _the League will know, they will know Blood-" the assassin was cut off.

"Panty attack!" Kara jumped out from behind a clothes rack, and threw a collection of bundle up women's underwear at him. They hit his face, and he scrambled to tear the items off, only for his now unobscured vision to consist of purely Supergirl tackling him once again, but this time, she continued her propulsion through the walls, several stores, and finally smashed open the front doors to the mall, where a small army of police officers had blockaded the front of the building.

Supergirl stood up, and brushed any dust off her uniform as Artemis and Miss Martian followed her outside, and a group of heavily armed police apprehended Bloodsport, while thanking Lara for her efforts.

Am hour later saw the girls sitting alone in an empty movie theatre, now once again disguised, as a C-list movie played on the screen in front.

Megan leaned over to place her head next to 'Linda', who had chosen a seat in front of her two friends.

"Hey Kara?" The Kryptonian turned around to look at the Martian

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry your make-up birthday was ruined" she smiled sadly.

A moment passed, and Kara began to chuckle quietly.

"_Now _what?" Artemis sighed.

"Nothing, but... You don't have to apologise to me" she stood and turned around fully.

"Why not?" The blonde archer asked.

"Because-" Kara shrugged "-this has been the best make-up-birthday ever!" She replied honestly. Then she leant forward, and pulled her friends into a light hug, or light by Supergirl standards at least

"I totally agree by the way, we _should _do this again."


	13. Revelation

**Mount Justice  
****October 1, 18:13 EDT**

"C'mon kids, we should meet up with the rest of the team" Kara was standing in between Artemis and Wally. She was trying and almost failing to separate them after a fight had broken out over Wally's... something.

"We're not that much younger than you" the redhead pointed out before rolling his eyes and following the apathetic alien out of the room.

In the ops/combat area, Robin and Aqualad were standing side by side, having just finished sparring, and seemed to be conversing about the three that just entered, while Superboy, Wolf, and Miss M stood off to the side, and Captain Marvel ate some kind of chocolate bar next to Zatara.

"So if Zatara's our babysitter of the week, why is _he_ still here?" The speedster complained about the Captain "And why is he eating my snacks?!"

"Recognized: Batman: 0-2."

"Computer, national news," Batman entered the cave, and a hologram showing a news report came on.

"The initial attack was short-lived, but Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve." A shot of a giant plant with tentacles smashing the city up. "And despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice League, there seems to be no end in sight."

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked his mentor.

"No," Batman said. "The League will soon have the situation under control, that's not why I'm here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra."

"Then they combined it with Bane's Venom to create the Kobra Venom" Kara supplied, nodding.

"Which the Brain used to create his animal army," Robin added.

"And upgrade Wolf." Connor patted the giant dog.

"The Brain also used intervention collars likes the ones used at Belle Reve Penitentiary," M'gann continued.

"Batman, is it possible that that plant-thingy's on Kobra Venom too?" Artemis asked.

"I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis," he said, typing on a holographic keyboard. "The vine cellulose does contain a trace of some sort of Kobra Venom variant."

"Coincidence? I think not," Wally said.

"How is this a thing?" Supergirl asked "unrelated criminals are working together on a global scale" she said

"I agree, it _is _strange" Aqualad agreed.

"It's like some kind of... of... super-secret-society!" Kara said

"Similar plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, Taipei," Robin said once he pulled up a holographic display of more plant attacks.

"Dude!" Wally complained when the screens went to static.

"It's not me!" The boy Wonder typed furiously. "Someone's cutting the satellite signal! All the satellite signals!"

Then a man's face appeared on screen, and Kara jumped in shock. He had white skin, a big red grin, and green hair.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly schedule mayhem to bring you this important message." The guy pulled a switchblade, and turned the camera to face several other villains. "From the _In_justice League!"

The camera zoomed in on the man in front of the group "We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit. But, the longer your governments wait…"

The green haired man faced the camera at himself again "The more we get to have our… jollies." He giggled like a nut-job, and camera cut off..

Robin pulled up the video and wound the footage back to a shot of the full League.

"Count Vertigo, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra Humanite, Atomic Skull, Black Adam, Wotan, seven heavy hitters!" Robin named. "Probably behind nearly everything and everyone we faced."

"And there's your super-secret-society" Kid Flash agreed

"Rao, I hate clowns" Supergirl muttered.

"Not so secret anymore," Artemis said.

"Perhaps after India, they realised we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer," Kaldur pointed out.

"Yeah?! That was their mistake!" Wally exclaimed "right now, I say we go kick some plant-creature butt!"

"The Justice League will handle the plants," Batman corrected "I have a different job for this team. With the plants hitting so many locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system. Your mission, is to destroy it."

"You realise what you're really asking them to do, right?" Zatara asked.

"They're ready," Batman assured.

"Ready?" Wally asked, confused. "Ready for what?" Artemis punched him in the arm. "Ow! Will you cut that–?"

"Hello, Wally!" Artemis exclaimed. "If the big guns are fighting plants, who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know!"

Kara stepped in between the boy and the screen, jutting a thumb behind her with an unamused look on her face

"Ohhhhh."

"Well Batman, I trust you are correct" the sorcerer said.

"I trust _you_ can locate the enemy" the Dark Knight retorted.

"Of course," Zatara confirmed. "Robin, if you would please provide the globe."

Zatara walked over to the holographic globe and held his hands outwards, "Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!" A small red blip appeared on the map "There. That is where you'll find the Injustice League's central control system."

"Coordinates locked in. The Louisiana Bayou," Robin confirmed, and the team ran from the room, Wolf too for some reason.

As they ran, Kara had a sudden idea, "M'gann!" She called out, and the martian stopped, before following Kara to Wally's souvenir room, where Kara left with a duffle, having used her super-speed to get ahead.

"What's that?" M'gann asked.

Kara never answered.

**Bayou** **Bartholomew  
****October 1st, 18:52 CDT**

The trip to the Bayou had been silent, up until Kid Flash noticed the bag under Kara's seat.

"What's in the duffel?" He asked.

"Plan B," Kara told him, receiving an inquiring look from Kaldur.

"Ugh!" Miss Martian grunted.

"You alright?" Superboy asked.

"Dizzy," she replied.

"Martians get airsick?" Robin asked.

"She does look a bit greener than usual," Kid Flash commented.

"Not me, her," Miss Martian corrected.

"I feel fine," Artemis told them "you?" She turned to Supergirl

"Yeah, bullets are like bug bites, but a sunday cruise in an airship is gonna take me out" she rolled her eyes playfully.

"not them," Megan again corrected. "The Bio-Ship. She's trying to shield us, but–"

The ship suddenly jerked, and began to spin out of control, before flipping a few times, and crashing into the murky water below.

Suddenly though, thick green tentacle vines wrapped around the ship, and began to drag it down, deeper into the lake.

A thud sounded, and Black Adam tore a hole in the roof of the ship, causing Miss M to again grunt in pain.

Superboy punched Black Adam off, but the damage was done, and the ship was quickly flooding.

"No, no way i'm nearly drowning three missions in a row" Artemis complained, putting on a rebreather and offering one to Kid Flash.

"M'gann, we need to get out, open a hatch" Superboy said.

"Hello Megan. Of course"

A hole opened up in the floor, and the team jumped down on Kaldur's order, before swimming back up to the shore.

They stood up, and watched as the bio-ship was finally swallowed up by the murky depths.

"Uh, she'll be okay, right?" Kara looked to her martian friend.

"Of course," the martian girl reassured "she just needs time to recover"

Suddenly, some kind of... blast, knocked the team all off their feet. They stood and readyd into battle stances, turning to find Adam and Vertigo standing above them.

"Vertigo" Wally said

"_Count _Vertigo to you, peasant" the villain corrected.

Superboy attempted to stop Vertigo, but was knocked down by Black Adam, who had returned from wherever in the Bayou Conner hit him to.

Aqualad stood up, and summoned a thick stream of water to hit Bertigo, sending him away from the area.

_"Robin, Miss Martian, disappear! We will keep them busy! You __two fulfil __the mission objective!"_ Aqualad ordered.

Once M'gann and Robin disappeared, Adam hit Kaldur across the jaw, knocking him out, and Wolf attacked the villain, but was whipped off and into Artemis and Kid.

Kara flew at Adam from behind, and managed to get in a good hit before he threw her away. She ran forward again, but was not anticipating it when he summoned a powerful lighting bolt to hit her, taking her down as well.

When the team came to, they found themselves trapped in a large orange cage of energy, and flying over the top of the Bayou.

"They are awaking, you are sure this will hold them?" Vertigo asked.

"The cage is impenetrable, not even the Supers have any chance of escaping" Wotan boasted.

Kaldur gripped the bars tightly "you are not the _only _one trained in the mystic arts Wotan" he used his electrical abilities to try and break free, but was quickly tired out.

"Please, Atlantean, do not pretend you are in my league" Wotan mocked.

The team settled back. They knew they weren't going to escape.

They were nearingthe Injustice League control centre, when a flying red object knocked Wotan out of the skies, thereby dropping the team into the muddy swamp below.

They landed on their feet, and were now facing a tall white gorilla holding a weapon of some kind "I _hate _monkeys" Connor muttered. He and Wolf ran forward.

Nearby, Poison Ivy lifted off the ground in front of Aqualad and Artemis. When they reached for their weapons, they came up short.

"Ugh, I feel naked, and not in a fun way" the girl growled.

"We will make our _own _fun, as we have been trained" Kaldur replied "manoeuvre seven" Artemis ran for the boy, who cupped his hands and flung the girl up when she stepped in them.

Artemis flew through the air and landed a kick in Ivy's face, knocking her down for a time.

Vertigo and Adam landed on the ground, and Wally ran for the former, while Kara locked hands with the latter.

While Vertigo's power slowed Kid down, Adam's strength equally matched Karas, and the villain was not above dirty tactics. He kneed the girl in the gut, and flung her at the not stopped Kid Flash, knocking both away.

Nearby, Ultra-humanite was easily fighting off Wolf and Superboy, and Ivy's plant tendrils where swiping away every one of Artemis's attack.

Poison Ivy suddenly gasped, and looking up they all saw tiny flashing lights scattered around the control plant.

Robin, who was perched on the domed roof of the building, activated the hundreds of discs set up. They all exploded, and in seconds the vine was no more

"Timber" the boy mumbled.

The angered woman sent dozens of thick vines forward to attack them, but Miss Martian just about dissolved the plants with her own powers, before being shot away with a blast of high-power energy from Atomic Skull, who was beside Joker.

"Children?" Joker glared "children foiled our plan? Inconceivable. Unacceptable! Retributionable! The last one might not be a word, so sue me."

The fight resumed, and each of the team fought off the villains, until a blast of orange energy hit Kid Flash "enough" a booming voice ordered, as the sorcerer Wotan descended into the field of battle.

Robin threw some explosive discs at him, but the blast was blocked by a magic shield.

Wotan, fired streams of electricity at the assembled heroes, hitting all but Supergirl, who had retreated behind a tree for cover.

Thinking quick, Kara called out to M'gann "Miss Martian, plan B!" The other girl looked unsure, but nodded, and moments later the bio-ship flew to hover above the fight, dropping the duffle containing plan B beside Kara.

She reached into the bag and pulled out it's contents, before rolling out from cover, and calling all attention to herself.

"Hey Injustice Losers!" They turned to face her, just as she pulled the Helmet of Fate onto her head, despite Wally's loud protests.

Suddenly, Kara found herself in an empty void, her voice echoing from all directions at once.

"Okay" she steadied herself "this is a new one"

"Well hello there" she turned to face the new voice, and found none other than Kent Nelson standing nearby, giving her a disarming smile.

"Kent Nelson!... but... you're... and!"

"Yes, I'm dead" he chuckled.

"Does... does that mean..." She nervously asked.

"No, no. You're quite alive, although I am curious why you thought putting on the helmet was a good idea" he said.

"Well, the League and us, 'us being my team, discovered that a group of villains have been working together globally, and calling themselves the Injustice. League" Kara told him "but, the problem is that none of us have the capability to take on Wotan, he's a member, and because all of the League's sorcerers are indisposed, we needed some... Help. So, here we are" he nodded in understanding.

"Well, i'm sure you're wonder ing how _that's _going" he jerked his head toward one side of the void, where two large oval windows appeared, assumedly her eyes, giving a view to what Kara, under Nabu's control, was doing.

She hovered before Wotan. "Wotan, you are mine" she declared in a mixture of her own and Nabu's voice.

The two fired gold or orange beams of energy at one another, but Fate's power was greater, and overwhelmed the villain, knocking the sorcerer out of the sky, before chaining him up against the Injustice building

Wotan yelled some kind of spell and the chains binding him shattered. He fired the magic bindings back at Kara, but she summoned a glowing golden ankh to stop them.

"Wotan has prepared for your return doctor" inside the helmet, Kara complained about the villains use of the third person on himself.

He fired another spell, which shattered Fate's ankh, and hit her.

Back inside... "Ow, I thought Fate has my body!" Kara complained.

"He has control over it, yes. But it's still _your_ body, and _your_ pain" Kent explained. They returned to watching the battle.

Fate and Wotan flew around the skies, firing bolts of magic energy at each other while dodging all the same. "Surrender sorcerer. You cannot hope to defeat a lord of order!" Fate ordered. She lifted her hands, and. Fired a long ankh at Wotan, but the sorcerer teleported himself behind Fate, and hit her with a blast of energy.

"I can defeat you and I will!" Wotan said.

A blast of energy hit Wotan, knocking him away from the lord of order. "Not tonight Wotan" Zatara and the rest of the League had arrived to end the battle

"It's over," Batman said, shooting the defeated villains a bat-glare.

The Injustice league raised their arms in surrender "there will be another day" Vertigo threatened.

"Another day?" Joker growled "there won't be another day!" he yelled "not for any of us!" he grinned insanely, and waggled his fingers.

Large thick vines shot out of the ground around them, and small pods on the vines exploded, sending out a cloud of green noxious gas.

"Joker venom spores!" Batman cried "don't breathe!" The dark night leapt forward and punched the Joker unconscious.

Kara flew above the group "Fear not!" she declared, as a golden ankh shined bright in the sky, sucking the gas up and removing it from existence "Fate has intervened!"

Back inside the helmet, Kara was celebrating the success of defeating the villains.

"Yes, haha, I _knew _we could do it!" She grinned, and Nelson chuckled at her actions.

"Okay Nabu, let me go now" she asked the golden helmet.

"I cannot" he simply stated.

"But... why not, the Injustice League is beaten, job's done!" She reasoned.

"Look around" the lord countered "chaos runs amok worse than ever, the world needs Doctor Fate"

"Nabu, this is wrong, the girl has her own life, she too young" Nelson attempted to reason.

"The last boy to don the helmet I released on your request, why should I release this host too?"

"Fate, if you let me go i'll... find a suitable host for you, a permanent one, I swear" Kara offered.

"And in the meantime i'll remain here with you, just as I have in the past" Kent continued.

it was silent for a moment "Very well, but the next host I take _will_ be a permanent one"

"Actually, hang on a second first" Kara requested. Looking out of her own eyes, Kara watched as Wally ranted.

"What were you thinking?!" he yelled "how could you let her put on the helmet?!" Kara finally understood why he was upset "Nabu will never release her now… Kara will be trapped inside Dr. Fate forever."

"Okay, we're good now"

"Hey, tell that Wally kid I said hello" was the last thing she heard as Kara felt herself taking the helmet off, and she was suddenly in control of her own body again.

"Kara, Nabu let you go!?" Wally asked.

"Reluctantly, yes, Kent Nelson helped a lot too... oh, and he says hello" she tucked the helmet under her arm.

Kaldur walked up to her "while I'm relieved you are okay, I request you consult me next time before attempting such a risky plan" she smiled sheepishly and nodded at the boy.

"We're done here," Batman declared. "The super-secret villain society has been neutralised. As for your performance…" he took a sweeping look at the young heroes "it was satisfactory, if not dangerous" he shot the blond Kryptonian a sharp look

Kara handed the helmet to M'gann "put this back in Wally's souvenir room" she walked over to Superman, and the two took off for Metropolis as the others split up themselves.


	14. Humanity

**Mount Justice  
****October** **10, 16:58 EDT**

The team, excepting Wally, were in the middle of a group wide combat training session.

Kara avoided swing after swing from Connor, some hits landing, and others missing. She grabbed hold of his fist as he attempted one last hit on her face, and twisted the limb, manipulating the boy over her shoulder, and onto the ground in a submission hold.

"Good work, everyone," Black Canary's voice cut through the room. Kara let her cousin up, and the two half-hugged "In fact, it's been a very productive week."

"Well, for most of us" the two blonde girls of the team turned to give pointed looks at the speedster who was lounging in a chair as Captain Marvel waited on him.

"Hey!" The boy complained "arm broken in combat against the Injustice League here!"

"I really enjoyed being your… uh… den mother this week" Canary said.

"Please don't go?" Kara begged. Of all the past 'den mothers', Canary had been the one to actually have any practical helpfulness around the place, giving the team extra training sessions, and more help with any issues of the kind.

"Recognised: Zatara: 1-1."

The zeta-tubes whirred and the Italian magician entered, before giving clearance to another.

"Access Granted: Zatanna Zatara: A0-3. Authorisation: Zatara: 1-1."

A young girl in what resembled some form of school uniform enters. She looked to be around Robin's age, and had raven black hair to compliment her slighter lighter skin tone "Zatanna, this is the Team. Team, my daughter, Zatanna."

M'gann greeted the girl "hi, I'm–"

"Robin!" Interrupted, jumping in front of the martian "I mean, I'm Robin. She's Megan. That's Wally, Artemis, Kara, Kaldur and Conner."

"I just noticed how many 'kuh' names we have" Supergirl muttered to Artemis.

"Welcome to the Cave," Aqualad greeted.

"Thanks" she replied.

"So, are you joining the Team?" Robin seemed nervous when talking to her, and Kara frowned at that.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Zatara cut in "this strictly a visit. Though I am sorry we missed the training. It's something from which Zatanna could benefit."

_"Do the rest of you still get the feeling that we're still on probation with Zatara?"_ M'gann asked via telepathy.

_"And Batman, Canary, the League in general" _Kara listed off.

Conner nodded _"and__, why's Marvel still hangin' around?"_

_"__b__ecause we like having him around__" _Wally said.

_"_You_ like having him around 'cause he waits on you hand and foot__" _Artemis frowned.

Kara gave a thoughtful look _"what's up with the whole servant deal anyway?"_

_"It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's term here as our supervisor," _Kaldur said.

Robin agreed. _"Yeah. At least he trusts us."_

Conner glared _"If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He betrayed us! That machine nearly got M__\- __all of us killed!"_

Kara placed a hand on his shoulder_ "hate the player, not the game" _she said.

_"What does that mean?" _He asked. She shrugged in response.

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" Zatanna asked "Cause I can't decide if that's cool or… really rude."

The team fell into an awkward and guilty silence "alright, fine." Connor broke "we were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the League hasn't told us anything."

"The League is searching for Tornado as well as the other androids and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority." Black Canary said.

"But you found none of the above." Robin said

"Not yet," Black Canary agreed "but Tornado is Justice League. The Team is not to pursue this."

"Why don't you take Zatanna on a tour, of the uh, Cave" Zatara suggested. They turned to find the girl was no longer beside them, but now petting Wolf.

"You're taking a tour?" Captain Marvel asked, holding a tray of nachos.

"Actually," Conner said "I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few!"

"Sure, sure!" Captain Marvel smiled "I can do that! C'mon, Wolf!" the man flew off with the canine following, Wally's nachos still in hand.

"my nachos!" Wally complained.

When they made it out of the room, the team began to freely talk about the plan for the day.

As they walked, Zatanna fell into step beside Robin, who began stuttering over her almost magic change of clothes.

"So it's unanimous that we're going after Tornado, right?" Kara confirmed with the group. She was met with a collection of positive grunts.

"Oh wow, out loud and everything" Zatanna cheekily remarked.

"What about new girl?" Artemis asked.

"She knows her dad will kill us _and _her if he finds out what's happening... right?" Kara turned to the young magician.

"Not if you kidnap me" she replied.

"Oh, you're gonna fit in _just _fine" the eldest girl smirked.

When the team piled into the bio-ship, Kara noticed it had been slightly enlarged to comfortably accommodate the growing group of young heroes.

A voice crackled over the ship's intercom "M'gann, the bio-ship wasn't authorised for departure."

"We're kidnapping Zatanna!" The Martian cheerfully said

"You know, to show her Happy Harbour" Kara hastily clarified while shooting the girl an unimpressed look "we'll be back in a... Jiffy? Is that the thing?"

"…roger that," Black Canary unsurely replied "have fun."

"Where are we going?" Wally asked.

"Batman's the World's Greatest Detective. And he searched for Tornado and T.O. Morrow in every logical location," Robin said.

"So we need an _illogical_ location" Kara confirmed "a truly dumb idea. Something so bad, nobody could think it has any sense at all" as she said this, the whole team turned to Wally.

The speedster didn't look offended at all "as a matter of fact…"

**Belle Reve  
****October** **10, 18:35 CDT**

The team were escorted through the male half of the prison on their way to the interrogation chamber.

Cat calls and whistles followed them as they walked, and Megan was becoming visibly uncomfortable.

"Ugh, cant you shut them up?" Kara asked a nearby guard.

"'fraid not. New management says no collars" the man replied.

They made it to the chamber where none other than Professor Ivo was seated, per the team's instructions.

The man glared at them, the supers in particular "What is it you League brags want?"

"Warden Strange owed us a favour for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with you" Robin said.

"Spill, Ivo!" Superboy ordered "how do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?!"

"Now why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo asked, as his expression softened into one of apathy.

"Because, and here's a truly dumb idea, your'e Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game" Wally explained.

"Makes you the perfect suspect to keep track of his location" Kara agreed.

"Ah," Ivo answered, looking at the speedster "I see your point. So let me rephrase: Why in the world would I tell you where Morrow is?"

"He knows," Aqualad said.

"Allow me" Supergirl leant forward on the table.

"Tell us where T.O is, or I turn you into a deep fried nerd-chop with a dirty look" she threatened.

"I'm not going to follow the demand of such an... Unruly, young woman" he looked her clothes up and down, obviously referenced the less... conservative, qualities of her costume.

"Ugh, I don't think people on this planet like my outfit very much" Kara said to the team "some of the pictures I've seen have erased it and added a _spectacular _level of anatomical detail" the others shared a concerned look.

Aqualad sighed "Miss Martian, do what you must" he urged, and the girl stepped up to search through his mind.

The scientist laughed with derision "oh please, as if iv'e never faced a telepath before."

Before the other knew what happened, Zatanna leant over Ivo's shoulder and demanded... something "Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol!" she said.

In an instant, the man snapped to attention "Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, one hundred meters south of Old Faithful."

The team stared at the young magician girl with shock and awe.

"That... was... cool" Kara gawped.

The team left the penitentiary to reenter the bio-ship.

"Block out all external communication," Aqualad interrupted Kara's session of screwing with Wally "soon Canary and Zatara… Batman too, I imagine, will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."

"Look," Robin chuckle lightly "I'm trying to be all nonchalant here-"

"Why?" Zatanna asked "be as chalant as you like."

Supergirl's frowned, and stood to forcefully push a gap between the two, which a seat appeared in, and she sat back down.

"I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers," Artemis spoke up "could you teleport us to Tornado or Morrow to a cell? Or force his bots to surrender?"

"Or create peace on Earth for all time?" Zatanna sarcastically said "Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm no way near on my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold, or have time to prep it. Plus, all magic requires energy which usually has to come from within. I just can't make the impossible happen at will."

"Can it be used to locate a ship in deep-space?" Kara asked her out of the blue.

The team were curious now "why?" Artemis asked "uh, n-nothing. Just... nothing."

Connor broke the silence "what's our ETA to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado in a trash compacter"

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Aqualad asked

"Aren't you?" Connor retorted

"I am not convinced, and even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming.

Certainly, he deserves a chance to prove he's more than the weapon others designed him to be, as Kara said, do not hate the player, hate the game."

**Yellowstone National Park  
****October 10, 20:18 MDT**

Kaldur ordered them all to go stealth mode, and Kara unclasped her cape.

Kaldur turned to Zatanna "I recommend you stay behind"

"Is that an order?" She asked.

"No, you must do as you see fit"

"Good" she smiled "emit ot yrt tuo eht wen kool!" The girl's outfit soon shifted in a moment to an altered version of her father's outfit, minus hat and cane.

The team gathered around Robin who had stopped walking momentarily to observe the display on his glove "Ivo's right. There's something down there" he said.

They resumed their trek through the open field, searching for an entry to Morrow's hideout, when a powerful gust of wind whipped at them, throwing the team backwards into a heap.

Looking up, they saw the culprit was none other than their former den mother.

"Why Tornado?!" Miss Martian yelled at the android "why are you doing this?!"

In reply, Tornado summoned more funnels of wind. Supergirl decided to fly at him first, rocketing at the android with the speed and power of a cannonball.

Just before she could hit, Red summoned an extra powerful tornado just below her, forcing the girl down, and whipping her at the rest of her team. The surprise of the counter left Kara helpless to prevent her impact with the group.

on the ground, Zatanna gasped and ran ahead of the group. "Pots Lrigrepus erofeb ehs stih su!" Suddenly, the falling alien's descent was cut short when an invisible force stopped her in mid-air, and dropped her to the ground. "Thanks" the blonde said. Zatanna shrugged in response.

While she had been falling, Aqualad and Superboy had attacked, only to be thrown away themselves.

Artemis pulled out a set of arrows and fired them at Tornado. But before they could reach their mark, he used a gust of wind to turn and fire them back at her.

Robin saw them coming and attempted to pull her away, but was too slow as they hit and exploded inches from their feet.

Kara stood and turned to Wally "Kid, let's show him he's not the only spin doctor here" the boy nodded and they began to use their combined speed to create one massive black tornado amongst the red ones surrounding.

From behind him, Miss M flew at Tornado, but felt her coming, and snagged her wrist before turning and throwing the Martian at the two. She hit and all three lay on the ground.

The truth was that they were playing dead, as Tornado had hinted them to do. Listening out, Kara heard Zatanna begin a spell, before she was cut off the by the 'rampaging' android.

A new voice, deeper than Tornado's but still robotic called out their bluff, whilst levitating the message cut into the rock below. The new bot, thick and deep red with strange glowing yellow designs on him crushed the message and fired the debris at the team, who all avoided of broke up the rocks narrowly.

Looking up, Supergirl saw Tornado begin to fly away from the battle.

_"Zatanna?" _Robin mentally asked.

_"I'm good, but Red Tornado's getting away" _the girl replied

_"Is he abandoning us?"_ Artemis asked.

_"I don't __believe that"_ M'gann replied.

"You stand no chance against me humans" the android taunted.

"I'm not a human" Kara flew at the bot, planning to spear him in half with a combination of speed and her relative size.

"Apologies" the android lifted a chunk of rock "I suppose the properly inclusive term is..." The chunk of rock hit Kara away before she could hit "...meat-bags"

The android separated the earth below Artemis and Aqualad, causing them to fall. Artemis narrowly managed to save them both by firing a grappling arrow up into the ground, and swinging the two out.

Robin threw a birdarang at the massive Red, which was caught with ease. The device exploded but seemed to have no effect on him.

"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move."

"Eoks emoceb a dlofdnilb!" Zatanna called out, and a tendril of smoke wrapped around the android's eyes. "Tornado never knew my moves!"

"And I bet you've got some good ones!" Robin continued "Whoa. Sorry. That may have come off a bit too Wally."

"I don't mind."

Kara came up between them both "you are _not _doing this while fighting a psychotic robot!" She pushed them apart

Lasers fired out of the androids eyes, and a massive volcanoes burst open behind him. Cracks opened in the earth, and ash cloud slowly streamed out of the split ground

_"What's going on?"_ Miss Martian asked over mind-link.

_"He's __activating__ a stage two eruption,"_Wally answered "_If it gets to stage three, __you can __kiss the hemisphere goodbye__."_

_"I need to stop that ash from spreading. It won't prevent the eruption, but I can buy you guys time to beat Big Red"_ without waiting for a response, Kara forced M'gann's link out of her head and flew to the ash clouds looming in the skies.

She hovered to the edge of the cloud, and sucked all of it up, holding the dense amount of ash in her lungs.

Kara flew out of the atmosphere, and faced the sun, before exhaling with enough force to rival a launched missile, sending the ash cloud in a spear-like fashion at the burning ball.

Supergirl turned away and rocketed back down to the battle below, noticing with her advanced vision that Red Tornado had returned, and was sacrificing himself via lava-melting to stop his younger brother.

Thinking quick, she flew down at the lava lake, and speared Tornado out of it, and back onto land, sparing him all damage excepting the loss of his lower legs..

"Tornado listen!" Kid Flash cried "we're on the verge of a stage three super volcano eruption! There'e no turning back from that! We need to vent pressure fast! But the ash cloud will bring around a nuclear winter unless you divert it!" He turned to Robin "Triangulate a route of pressure locus,"

The boy brought up a display on his glove "right. There, there and there"

Artemis fired three explosive arrows at the locations he mapped.

As this happened, Tornado and Supergirl flew up to the atmosphere to divert the monstrous ash cloud. Tornado hovered above it and spun as fast as possible, while Kara hovered just above the mouth of the volcano, blowing the ash upward and into the android's vacuum.

The two descended, and Kara held Tornado up as his legs were melted off.

"Lets get him down into Morrow's base and repair him."

Later, the team gathered around as Wally and Robin fixed the android's vocals. Behind them, Supergirl was sifting through the immense amount of data on Morrow's computer to find anything worth any value. Among the mountains of info, she found a set of messages sent between him, ' ' and ' ' discussing something called 'Project Pygmalion.' She saved the files on a disc drive Robin gave her.

"There. That should do it." Robin called out as she rejoined the group.

"Yes," Red Tornado said "I can speak again."

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet." Aqualad said.

"That planet would've survived," Red Tornado retorted "it was humanity that was saved. Though it was not me. My brother and sister were the true heroes today."

"My point is this" Aqualad said "you were never the mole. Never a traitor."

"No," Red Tornado agreed. "I left you to prevent a further attack and to find my creator: Morrow."

Wally lifted a hand off a workbench "cool, souvenir" and Robin lifted a robotic leg "Reddy, we can rebuild you! Better than you were before"

"I do not believe I _should _be repaired"

"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Superboy asked.

"I was the pragmatic choice" Tornado replied "I do not require sleep, I have no secret identity or second life to live."

"But you do have advanced A.I programming designed to learn, adapt, evolve," as he listed these off, he counted the reasons on the robotic hand he had picked up.

"You... wanted to become more like a human" Kara said, then thought for a moment "or an organic life form at least."

"And you couldn't do that with the League" Artemis agreed "they're stiffs"

"You're sure not gonna learn emotion from Batman" Robin half-joked "trust me"

"Then the cave was not a proving ground only for us, but for you as well" Kaldur remarked.

"I do not know if these statements are accurate" Tornado replied in his usual logical speak "but perhaps, they are true. And if i understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to... Care, about you all"

"See" Connor spoke up "practically a meat-bag already"

"Which reminds me..."

The team spent the next while repairing Tornado's legs, before setting off in the bio-ship, as he needed to be somewhere else.

"So," Robin leaned over to Zatanna "good kidnapping?"

"Actually, yeah. Best ever." She smiled back

Robin lightly chuckled "first of many, I hope."

Zatanna's face fell "If my dad doesn't ground me for life."

"Rao, enough with the flirting, your like toddlers" Kara admonished at the encounter.

"We're not even that much younger than you!"Robin complained.

"Well I _am_ technically in my forties"the alien informed them, leaving a heavy silence behind.


	15. Fiction

**A/N Congrats to all followers for having patience with this thing. As reward, three chapters in one go!**

**This is only my second or third attempt at a 100% original event within this, and I think I'm finally getting better at it, so bear with me on it.**

* * *

**Metropolis  
****October 12, 21:02 EDT**

A storm was brewing, clouds of deep grey looming menacingly overhead, flashes of white in the distance, followed by the distant yet distinctive sound of booming thunder. A light drizzle pattered down into the city, acting to forewarn the citizens of Metropolis about the oncoming downpour.

Atop the highest tower in the city, a sleek black skyscraper with an world known 'W' lighting up on side, a pair of figures stood beside each-other, long crimson capes billowing behind them, and the dim light of the moon only just illuminating the insignias placed upon their chests, a gold-crimson 'S' shield.

The first figure, that of a tall, well-built man, turned to his counterpart, a shorter young woman, with flowing blonde hair mirroring the cape behind her. The man gave a short nod, and moments later stepped off the building's roof, with the girl following suit.

Barely passing the half-way point between their former perch and the pavement below, the two arced back upwards, propelling themselves over the city, a mere duo of red streaks in the sky.

Metropolis wasn't the only city in the world to have such people. The scum-ridden Gotham was locale to the dynamic duo themselves. Star City had the eagle-eyed-arrow family. Central City hosted the fastest team in the world, but Metropolis, they were the only place in the world lucky enough to say they were home to the indestructible, undeniable, incredible, Superman and his equally as Mighty, yet ten times as attractive cousin Supergirl.

As the pair of 'supers' harnessed their powers of flight to soar over the city, they additionally strained their abilities to listen over great distances, picking up small creaks and mutters that most would miss a few feet away from the source. It was only a matter of minutes after the duo's initiation of flight that the younger, Supergirl, picked up on the distant sound of a scream. She silently signalled to Superman, and they altered their joint flight course towards the scream's source, found in the very centre of the city's large park.

They slowed to a stop, and touched their crimson boots down onto the clean-cut grass, immediately making use of the arsenal of various vision enhancements to scan the area for the source of distress.

Seeing nothing nearby, they split up to investigate in person, Supergirl heading northwards, and her mentor moving south.

While the area remained clear for the most part on both ends, a quick blur of movement in her peripheral vision caught the younger's eye. She turned on her heel, and slowly crept over to the thick brush where the movement was, despite the garish blue and red of her costume allowing minimal stealth ability.

Swiping the small trees away, and priming a blast of superheated lasers from her eyes, the blonde girl found not a vicious criminal and his innocent prey, but a small rabbit, frozen in fear of the dangerous girl.

She relaxed her position and spun back around to reconvene with her cousin, when instead of meeting the sight of the park's lush greenery, she came face to face with a deep green and purple chest.

Sizing up the new figure, it's metal limbs, armed with weaponry that glowed a distinct green, and the world-known symbol upon it's chest all pointed to one suspect. Lex Luthor.

She stepped back a few metres, so her eyes could meet up with the notorious businessman.

"Shouldn't you be rotting in prison, Luthor?"

He smirks ever so slightly "maybe one day, but the moment you actually pin me with any crimes is yet to arrive"

"Then I'll just pin you with my foot in your face!" With the threat, the blonde leapt onto Luthor's mech suit, and swung a super-powered kick at the glass dome shielding him inside.

One of it's arms flew up and stopped the kick without any effort, while the other gripped her around the middle, and threw her away in the other direction.

She skidded to a stop, kicking up chunks of grass and dirt, and ended up lying in a deep gouge beside her cousin, who must have heard the commotion, but not yet acted, as he had a hard look on his face and was tensed in a fighting stance.

"So... Lex Luthor's attacking us" the blonde told him.

She stood back up, and brushed the remaining earth off of her clothing "think we should deal with this together, or in waves?"

Superman considered this for a moment, "he's too calculating for us to engage him one-on-one, and apparently too powerful as well" he began walking in the villain's direction, hearing the metallic clunking coming towards him too, "we'll have to try taking him on together, and if we can't handle it, I'll call in some League assistance."

Kara nodded, and the two broke out into a jog, and then a sprint. Luthor's hulking green form became visible further away, and he was moving towards them as fast as the mech-suit would allow. The two Kryptonians pushed off the ground, and began flying in his direction at a speed akin to a race-car.

The impact was powerful, both solid bodies hitting the thick plating of Luthor's chest at once, and leaving a deep dent in the metal. But the heavily armoured figure only stumbled back a single step, and brought it's raised arms down on the two by it's chest. Each alien hero was smashed by a large fist, and sent into the ground below like a pair of bowling balls.

Luthor lifted a foot, and brought it down at lightning fast speed on the two, who rolled out of the way in opposing directions. Superman rolled off the ground, and caught another hammering arms in the air above his head. Struggling to hold the metal hand away, he threw an arm out to meet the other hand coming in from the side.

While the bald billionaire held a power struggle with the Man of Steel, Supergirl had crept around to the back of Luthor's suit. Springing like a tiger onto it's prey, she gripped onto the shoulder of the mech, and swung her legs back into a horizontal position, before throwing her legs out into an 'L' and bringing them down between the plating of Luthor's shoulder and upper left arm. The arm suddenly spasmed, and dropped away from Superman's side, allowing him to put more weight behind pushing the other hand away from his head.

Luthor scowled in anger, and rapidly attempted to regain control of the lost arm. Taking advantage of this distraction, Superman put all of his force into throwing the arm up, and folding it over to his shoulder, freezing the limb in place with his icy breath.

Supergirl pulled herself up on Luthor's shoulder, the same one she had earlier broken, and stood on top of the billionaire genius. She began to stamp on the glass dome that covered the man himself, a small crack slowly growing in the clear material.

Suddenly, he regained use of the broken arm,and swatted Supergirl off his head, sending the blonde flying through the air, into a thick tree much further behind him. He swung the limb towards his frozen arm, and shattered the ice holding it in place with a single hit. Luthor turned his hate-filled gaze to Superman, who was standing opposite him only a few feet away.

"Next time then Superman" Luthor smirked, and both arms lifted to face the Man of Steel. Holes opened up in the palms, and a pair of apple sized spheres shot out, exploding into a thick cloud of smoke on impact of the ground between the two enemies.

Once the smoke cleared, Superman looked up to see Luthor's green form shooting through the sky at a surprising speed.

Kara marched over to her cousin "you just let him go?!" She glared at him.

"For now, yes."

"Why?"

"Because we lost" he told her "even when working together, he managed to beat us" he looked up at the dark sky in thought "I'll contact some of the League to find a weakness for his suit, and if need be, back us up."

The blonde nodded reluctantly, and sat down on a rock that had been displaced during the fight.

A few minutes later, Superman walked back to his cousin "Manhunter says there are reports of Luthor over at the university" he told her.

The girl sat upright immediately "but there're late night classes going on, he could hurt people."

Not wanting to waste a minute, or risk the lives of any students who attended Metropolis University, the two Kryptonians shot up into the air, and made their way to their prey.

**Metropolis University  
****October 13, 22:34 EDT**

Both supers landed on top of the university's science wing, which towered over much of the university, and provided a clear view of the entire area. Not immediately seeing any danger, it was the distant sound of walls being broken down that made their heads snap to the English buildings.

They jumped off the building, and rushed over to the new source of distress, rounding a corner to see panicked students sprinting out of a hole in the side of a building. They marched over to the hole, and peeked in.

Luthor stood over a small group of people, ranting that Superman's conscience would bring the alien right to his feet.

"That plan is so crazy that it just might work"

Luthor's body whirled around the voice, but Supergirl was already sprinting over to him. The Mech braced itself for an impact, but was surprised when the blonde dropped to the ground and slid between it's legs. Turning around to see that she was indeed not attacking, Luthor was caught off guard when he turned to meet Superman's fist with the dome of his mech-suit.

The force of the punch knocked the suit back a bit, as a sudden impact from behind pushed it back forward.

Supergirl had repeated her actions from earlier, recognising that the suit's weakness was the fragility in it's joints. She leapt onto it's back, and threw a jab in the space between it's left shoulder and arm, disabling the limb once again.

In front, Superman caught a wild swing from the suit's right arm, and froze the joint between it's upper and lower arm, before bringing a fist down on the now fragile cold metal. The ice shattered, and the arm was disabled also.

Both Kryptonians continued to attack the joints until they finally broke off, sparks flying everywhere, and the armless mech flailing wildly.

The group of hostages screamed in fear as the large body seemed to almost fall back on them, when Supergirl sucked beneath it, and threw the mech onto it's front.

Superman dug his fingers into the base of the glass dome, and tore it off, forcing Lex Luthor out.

Before the Man of Steel could arrest his nemesis, the villainous CEO stood up, now wielding a large space-age looking rifle, with tubes of glowing green wrapped around, flowing back and forth. It was a kryptonite gun.

Both Supers froze in mild fear, and slowly raised their arms. "You don't understand _Superman_" he spat the name "all I want-" the weapon whizzed into life "-is to kill-"

Before her could fire, or even continue his mini-monologue, a brave students smacked him in the back of the head with a chunk of rock from the broken down wall.

"Shut up Luthor" the young man said.

Supergirl walked over to him "oh, you brave, brave, incredibly handsome-"

"If I may interrupt-"

**Metropolis University  
****October 13, 09:23 EDT**

Professor Cole, head of the english department, stood from her desk "-while your story is very... Interesting, I'm afraid the task was to write an _original work of fiction_" she explained.

The young man at the front of the class gawked "but I did! That was original, _and _fiction."

"Yeas, Michael, but you made use of _real people _in your story, and if I'm not mistaken, you intended that young man at the end to be, well, you."

Near the back of the class, Siobhan and Linda snickered as quietly as they could. The guy's story had been beyond ridiculous, and they were only just saved by the clock ticking over to end class.

The whole lecture theatre stood up and packed their things, as Professor Cole reminded them that presentations would continue the following week.

"What a weirdo right?" Linda asked her Irish friend.

"I know, I mean, Supergirl?" The musician grinned lopsidedly.

"Again, what a weirdo."


	16. Failsafe

**Mount Justice**

**October 16, 16:01 EDT**

The team were gathered in the cave's main area, watching on as the Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart attempted to reason with the giant unidentified spacecraft looming over Earth. It happened in the blink of an eye, but some kind of laser fired out of the ship and disintegrated the Lanterns.

Batman, from his Bat-plane, deployed four of the League's heaviest hitters, Superman included, to stop the ship. They too were dissolved in the energy beam.

Finally, a scout ship flew out to face down the world's greatest detective, and wiped him out with similar ease.

A video connection to Zatara opened up "Tornado... did you-"

"Yes Zatara" Tornado interrupted "we saw. Celestial defences have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures."

"Affirmative. See you in the field" the mystic cut comms.

"I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs" Tornado said to the team "but should we fail, responsibility falls to you."

"We stand ready" Kaldur answered for them.

Soon after, they continued to watch as new reporter Iris West-Allen was wiped out by the aliens, along with Zatara and Flash.

In Taipei, the Hawks, Black Canary and Green Arrow had more luck, but were soon overwhelmed too.

The screens shifted to show the small town of Smallville, where a large ship, presumably the mothership, landed int the heart of town. Wonder Woman held the invaders off for a time, but was destroyed too.

"Red Tornado to Cave. I fear I am all that remains of the League."

"RT!" Robin exclaimed, just as another scout vaporised the android. And in that moment, the Justice League was no more.

"We are Earth's heroes now," Aqualad stated.

"So what are we waiting for?" Superboy, or was it man now? asked "a theme song?"

"A strategy," Aqualad retorted "earth's weapons are ineffective, and it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."

"Checking satellite imagery" Robin announced "here's where the aliens are now."

"This one get lost?" Superboy asked. The holographic display Robin pulled up showed a clear image of the north pole. Or rather, a large crystalline structure.

"The Fortress of Solitude" Supergirl narrowed her eyes and stepped forward "why are they at Superman's base?"

"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?" Superboy asked her.

"Yeah. The high levels of power it radiates must have caught their attention, or at least that one's" she reasoned.

"Must be some fortress" Superboy frowned.

"Conner," Miss Martian gently grabbed his arm.

"No, it's okay. I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know" he glared at Kara. While she often tried to fill the void that Superman's neglect made, she was still reluctant to tell Connor many of the details of his template's life.

"We will target this lone ship," Aqualad decided.

"Yeah!" Kid Flash grinned "break it down! Build more! Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"

Artemis hit him with an elbow "Ow!"

"Martian and Kryptonians in the house" the girl glared.

Wally sheepishly smiled at the three non-humans "Uh… Heh. Not that all aliens are ugly automatically."

"Look, the Fortress is in the Arctic so we need to pack warm and white clothing" Kara said "also, if at any point we need to go inside, don't touch anything."

**Arctic Circle**

**October****16****, ****19:23 UTC-03**

The team had arrived in the area where the ship was floating stationary. It seemed to be scanning the Fortress's energy readings.

Each of them took up places where they needed. M'gann flew up behind in her own camouflage mode, and broke off the ship's communications relay, and then disabled it's engines.

Artemis fired an arrow at the main centre point, both locking whatever was inside just like that, and preventing them from seeing anything.

The ships's cannon swivelled around and began firing beam after beam of energy at the ice she had ducked behind, blasting the terrain away.

Aqualad leapt out from the iced water benaeth, and brought it down into the water a bit, keeping it in place. The cannon turned and prepped it's weapon to blast the leader, but Wolf jumped forward and pushed the device to fire at nothing.

Robin and Kid jumped up to locate the cannon's weak points, and Miss M broke them off.

Superboy git underneath and began to pull it out of it's socket from underneath, while Kara pried it from above.

Suddenly, Wolf jumped at Connor and knocked him away from the place he stood, where a smaller cannon blasted the canine. Robin quickly checked his glove _"__there__ was no indication of feedback__… __I'm sorry__…__"_

Superboy frowned sadly _"__can't__ do anything for him now."_ He climbed back up and continued to tug off the weapon _"Let's go__"_ the cannon finally broke off, and the two kryptonians lifted it over the bio-ship.

_"I may need to de-camouflage for a few minutes__"_ Miss Martian informed as she integrated the cannon systems into her own ship.

_"may not have a few minutes,"_ Robin said as two new ships flew out at them.

_"Miss Martian, open fire!" _Aqualad ordered.

_"I can't" _the Martian replied _"weapons systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon. And that is not fully integrated yet either!"_

_"Got you covered!" _Artemis's internal shouting was actually kind of annoying _"get inside, i'm almost there!"_

Artemis managed to shoot down the two ships, but one still had a functioning cannon. The blonde archer ran as fast as she could, but was too slow as the ship's beam fired. Kara flew down, intending to pull her out of the way in time, but was too slow. Artemis was gone.

"Artemis!" Miss Martian screamed. With the loss of their friend, the entire situation seemed to become more than real, like all the deaths of the League hit them in full force.

Kal was dead, she realized, and her throat seemed to just, close up, her heart shuddered, and for a fleeting second, she felt like the last of her race. Connor entered her view suddenly, but the feeling remained. strange.

Aqualad leapt down to stop the cannon "get inside, all of you" he ordered. Kaldur whipped the ice, causing a ripple effect of the ice hitting the ship, catapulting it in air, so Kaldur could manipulate the frozen water shards to destroy it with ease.

"They're dead!" Kid Flash growled "every single alien! If it's the last thing I do!"

"Inside. Now" Aqualad ordered, and the team piled in.

At the controls, Miss Martian began to tear up. In his seat, Wally was viciously beating the control panel in front of him.

"There will be time to mourn later" Kaldur said, still retaining a serious manner.

"He's right" Kara spoke up "he said it earlier, we are Earth's heroes, and that means our business isn't finished."

"We must ensure Artemis's sacrifice was not in vain" Aqualad said.

"Back to the cave?" M'gann asked, still frowning.

"The Hall of Justice," Aqualad corrected "the human race must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope"

Kara returned to staring out the window stoically. Her cousin was dead now, and that meant it fell to her to uphold the symbol of hope her family crest had supplied the world with all these years.

When they got to D.C. The sky was set in a hazy orange, occasionally lit up by the beam of an alien craft firing down on the tanks and soldiers below.

A hole opened in the base of the cloaked bio-ship, and the two Supers jumped out to wreak havoc on the ships at a personal level.

While the the others fired M'gann's new cannon against it's own creators, Connor rode atop one ship as it plummeted to Earth. Kara flew in a downward angle, aiming for the centre of one ship that was training directly onto a group of soldiers containing a General, and tore through it's heart. The ship exploded behind her, and she touched down before the soldiers.

Behind her, the team landed, and Superboy took a place several paces behind her. She overheard two soldiers talking about Superman not leaving them.

"Superman is dead" she informed them, eliciting a shocked gasp from the men "I am Supergirl, and this is Superboy"

General Eiling walked up to them "I don't care who you kids are, you wear the 'S' and you got the job done."

Aqualad stepped up to talk with the general, who saluted the teen "General Wade Eiling, U.S Air Force"

"Aqualad, Justice League. We'll help you salvage as many of the alien's cannons as possible, then we start taking back what is ours" the boy narrowed his eyes.

They entered the Hall, and looked around to see that all of the statues had been broken from the chest up, their heads once proud, now lying pathetically on the ground.

"They're really gone" Robin frowned. Miss Martian flew over to the statued head of her uncle, and broke into tears at it's feet. Suddenly, she flew back up and began blasting away the rubble surrounding. She lifted a large rock to find none other than the Manhunter himself.

"Uncle J'onn!" Before she could embrace him, Aqualad stepped in

_"M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is whom he appears to be"_

_"It's him, he's real, and he's alive!" _She replied with glee

"Bit you were disintegrated. You with Batman, Marvel... Even Superman" Kara frowned in confusion.

"Yes," he confirmed "I remember. But… I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here."

"Maybe you were density-shifting and the beam ran right through you," Miss Martian smiled.

"Scrambling your brains along the way!" Robin grinned

"My mind _is _clouded. I feel certain I had _something _important to tell you."

_"Hello, Wally!" _Kid face-palmed _"C'mon!"_He ran outside, Robin and Kara following.

They mounted a crashed ship and Rob scanned it.

_"I knew it!"_ The speedster exclaimed _"__it's__ giving off Zeta-Beams! __The same stuff that powers our zeta-tubes. __This thing doesn't disintegrate! It teleports! Artemis is alive!"_

_"Mayb__e __but__–"_Robin was cut off.

_"No maybes!"_ Kid Flash said _"t__hey're__ all__ alive!"_

They looked up and saw an armada of ships flying towards them.

_"We're on our way!" _Kaldur told them.

_"Negative, we can't win this" _Robin denied _"Miss Martian, camo the bio-ship-" _Robin stopped talking when a stray beam hit the ship.

_"We're falling back" _the three heroes, some soldiers, and the general entered the Hall, but stopped at the closed entry to the inner-sanctum. "We're trapped!" Eiling said. Kaldur opened the door seconds later.

Before they could advance, Supergirl stopped walking.

"Supergirl?" Aqualad asked

"I'm staying" Kara suddenly said, marching for the front doors.

Behind her, all but Kaldur and Connor argued.

She turned back to her team "Superman is dead, nothing can change that, which makes me the most powerful being on Earth by default and I _will _stand strong against these alien invaders until the last breath. Not because I'm a hero, but because this is my _home_, and my _people_, and my _responsibility_."

The others looked like they wanted to say more, but Kaldur stepped forward first "if that is your true feelings, than we cannot stand in your way. I wish you luck" he held a hand out for her, but she pulled him into a hug instead. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but notice the lack of care Connor showed her. Why hadn't he protested?

Without another word, she turned again and marched outside, where a battered field of wrecked tanks, burning terrain, and several ships looming over met her.

She flew up, and their cannons followed her ascent.

In her mind, various scenarios of what would and could have happened.

She knew that in a few minutes, the overwhelming force if these aliens ships would defeat her, and send her to whatever hell Artemis had been thrown into.

Maybe it's be a motherships where she could return to her cousin. Or maybe she'd arrive in a paradise to live eternally with her mother and father, her aunt and uncle.

She even contemplated what could have been if she just stayed with the team, would she defeat the enemy, would she become a true hero... Oddly enough, she wondered if Kaldur would survive the onslaught of extraterrestrial origin.

Making the first move, Kara sped fist first directly through the middle of one ship, barely dodging the beams of various other crafts. The broken vessel fell down to the Warth below, defunct and destroyed, and Kara turned her attention to a remaining ships.

The next few minutes felt more like hours to her, as she tore through metal, and ripped off weapons. She broke ships apart, and continued to narrowly dodge their attacks.

But one stray beam managed to hit her in the side, and destroy a large portion of her torso. The injury was no doubt fatal, but Kara wanted to give an eye for an eye before she finally gave up the futile battle.

She turned to the lucky, or very unlucky depending on the viewpoint, and flew through it's surprisingly soft outer shell. As the broken husk of a ship fell to pieces around her, Kara felt the odd warmth of one last beam enveloping her being. She began to feel lighter as the zeta-beam waves pulled her apart atom by atom, until there was no longer a Kara Zor-El, just the memory of a Supergirl, who selflessly sacrificed herself for life to have one more chance.

She next found herself floating, disembodied, in a void of emptiness. There wasn't any grand paradise, or happy family reunions, or cold alien motherships, and heroic underdog victories, only nothingness.

The position gave the girl time to think. Was this life after death? An endless void of nothing? For who knows how long, her mind contemplated these things, as well as straying often to her friends. to Siobhan, and Kaldur, and Robin and the rest.

When her mind moved on to Connor however, a bitter feeling overtook he senses. She could remember him just as she announced her suicidal plan, completely devoid of emotion, and when she reversed the roles, she for some reason couldn't bring herself to care either. When Kal's death finally effected her, she could almost feel er heart shatter at the thought of losing him, but for Connor, she felt nothing. A light, like the end f a long tunnel, interrupted her thoughts.

A light grew in intensity, and a deafening roar of rushing overwhelmed her senses as the force threw her out of the abyss that was her broken mind and into the aching light of...

**Mount Justice**

**October 16, 16:21 EDT**

Kara's eyes shot open, and she shot upwards, seeing that she was not dead, but in the cave and on a rectangular slab of stone. Around her, she saw the others wake, and Martian Manhunter standing in the middle of them

"What happened?" A very alive Batman asked a very groggy Martian Manhunter.

"The exercise. It all went wrong," the telepath replied.

"Exercise?" Robin asked.

"Try to remember," Batman said. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter linked the seven of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was it was a trained-for-failure exercise. No matter what the Team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real. Including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

"That is why you hardly grieved, even when Wolf was disintegrated before your eyes" Manhunter explained "but all that changed, when Artemis died. Though consciously Miss Martian the _subconscious_ mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise, and her subconscious took control, making all of _you _forget too" they all turned to her.

"I-I-I'm so sorry" the Martian girl stuttered.

"This isn't her fault!" Connor tried to argue "why didn't you stop the exercise!"

"We tried, but M'gann had... A death-grip, on the scenario. Even Artemis who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed, she slipped into a coma. I realised i would have to wrest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was... Too much... Noise, to think clearly, to remember why I was there. The deaths of Supergirl, Aqualad and Superboy helped, but only when the mother-ship exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced, my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose... To shock M'gann out of the exercise, before your comas became permanent. My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous... So damaging."

"As bad as all that..." Batman helped up manhunter who almost collapsed.

"Perhaps worse" the Martian said.

"Yet _this _is not what troubles you" Red Tornado assumed.

"Make no mistake. My niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this... For _our, _debacle."

"No one blames her" Batman said "but clearly we underestimated her abilities."

"You understate it" Manhunter replied. "In terms of raw power, she has the strongest telepathic mind I have ever encountered... Stronger, by far, than mine."


	17. Disordered

**Mount Justice  
****October 23, 17:02 EDT**

The team had gathered in the kitchen and living room of the cave. Why was left unknown, and nothing was said as the heroes silently contemplated the hidden pains Manhunter's exercise had drug to light.

Each held their own issue, whether it be denial of the pain, responsibility for another's pain, or confusion of the way they handled their own pain, the young heroes were hurt.

The doors opened, and Black Canary entered with Martian Manhunter.

"How are you all?" Nobody answered her. "Batman has asked me to hold some one-on-one sessions for you all to discuss what happened and your feelings. Does anybody want to volunteer to go first?" When none of them made to move, Kara stood from her leaning position on the kitchen counter, and nodded at the Leaguer.

She was led into a room she didn't know the cave had. It was complete with green armchairs facing each other, and a small waterfall gushing to one side.

Canary took her place in one seat, and Kara took the other. The girl stared at her hands, wringing them together in nervousness.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" And like that, the flood gates opened.

Kara scrunched her eyes together, feeling the frustration and confusion she had buried away come to light.

"Connor" she admitted.

"What about him?"

"When Superman, when Kal died, I kept thinking about how I was the last Kryptonian, the last of my family"

"But Connor..."

"Didn't even come to mind. It was like he wasn't my cousin, not even my friend, just some _thing _that had been mad in an underground lab somewhere" the blonde sighed in frustration.

"And then, later, when I was leaving to go fight the aliens, he didn't even protest, like he didn't care that I was going to die surely, and when I thought about it, I decided in the same position, I wouldn't care either, about him dying" he fist clenched, and she looked away.

They were silent for a short while more, and Kara continued to spill her guts about Connor, and how frustrated she was that she didn't"t care about him in the simulation.

Kara left the room and reentered the lounge. Connor stood up, essentially volunteering to go next.

A short while after, she saw Connor walking to the hangar in a rage, and followed. When she found him, he was about to drive off on his motorbike.

"You're not really gonna go out alone?"

He turned to her "leave me alone Kara."

"No Connor, I'm going with you, and you can't stop me" maybe this was a good chance to establish a stronger familial bond with him. She mounted the back of his bike, and he drove it towards the door.

"Red Tornado, hangar door" just as it opened, Sphere rolled out in front of him "Sphere, outta the way!" Wolf came up next to the bike. Suddenly, Sphere transformed into a large three-wheeled motorbike, or motortrike, with three seats for the present 'meat-bags', as the previously dubbed Red Volcano would put it.

The two Supers pulled off their mandatory comms, as Batman would surely try to interrupt this well needed ride, and drove out of the hangar. Moments later, Sphere actually began to fly!

**Eastern Seaboard  
****October 23, 18:04 EDT**

They had flown for a while, and soon after they left Mount Justice, Kara decided to fly alongside Sphere, rather than in it. Nothing beat real flight.

"Let's see what our boy can do" Connor said, and Wolf barked in confirmation. Sphere flew up in the air, and completed a full loop-de-loop "oh yeah" Connor and Wolf cheered themselves together.

Suddenly, a strange flying car with five stranger looking people stopped their flight short.

"Return the New-Genesphere" one darker man in glowing green armour ordered "and the rest of the technology you have stolen from New-Genesis, human!"

"Who are you?" Connor asked.

"Why are-" Kara was interrupted by a large man with a thick red mane of hair.

"Let's keep this simple" he said "that-" he pointed to Sphere "-belongs to us! Give it back!" Sphere revved in response, and a small box the green-guy held beeped.

"Forever people, stand down" he said "this one did not steal the New-Genesphere, he saved it from the real thieves!"

A beat passed "apologies!" The large man grinned "the Forever People embrace you as a friend, ally, and worthy warrior."

From hostility to an almost brotherly inclusion, this group was... different "you _cannot _be serious" Kara said.

The 'Forever People' allowed the earth heroes to continue their flight, and continued on with them.

"Forever People?" Connor asked them.

"We're Young Gods, _New _Gods"

"They call me Serifan" a blond boy in an Earth cowboy outfit said.

"I'm Dreamer" the lone female of their group said "this is Moonrider, and our leader, Vykin"

The big man thought for a moment "I am named for an animal that does not exist on this world" he snapped his fingers "but you may call me Wolf"

"_This _is Wolf" Connor gestured to the canine, who whined and looked away like a petulant child.

"Ah" he thought again "Bear then. Yes, Bear is even better"

"I'm Con-Superboy"

"My name is Kara, but you can call me Supergirl."

"And this is motherbox, the living computer" Vykin held up the small beeping box. It looked very similar to one of the tech pieces she had been taught about on Apokolips. "She has tracked technology stolen from our home world, New Genesis."

The flying car, Sphere and Kara came to a stop hovering over a large empty construction site, with a wide hole in the centre "And she has found our rescue drill there? It is beneath us 18 meters underground."

"That's a construction site, perfect cover for drilling" Connor said.

"And the Federal Reserve happens to conveniently be across the street" Supergirl agreed.

The Forever People looked lost "the government keeps money there" Connor clarified

"It's a heist! Come on, pardners, let's ride in there guns a-blazin' and round up them outlaws" Serifan jumped up.

"He's watched a lot of Earth westerns" Dreamer explained.

"Yeah, well there's a time to go in strong, and a time to go in smart."

"And this has Intergang written all over" Kara somewhat agreed with her cousin, Intergang were a tricky bunch.

"It is your world" Vykin decided "we shall follow your lead" the Tomorrows and the Supers dropped to the ground, where they took up positions to infiltrate stealthily.

An old woman walked up to one of the armed goons guarding the site holding a jacket "Norman, I brought you a jacket!"

"Mom!" The closest exclaimed, "what're _you_ doin' here!?"

Behind him, Moonrider hit the ground and fired bio-electrical shots from his hands, incapacitating two of the three men.

Norman turned and aimed his gun at the hero "mom, get down! It's not... Safe..." He trailed off as his mother warped to reveal it was truly Dreamer the whole time.

He turned away and aimed his gun at her now, when Vykin used his own powers to force Norman to smack himself in the face with the pistol.

In the drilling hole, Wolf, Superboy, Supergirl and Bear dropped onto another group of guards, knocking them out. The three Earth-based heroes sprinted down the tunnel, and signalled for the forever people to follow.

They reached a point where a group of criminals that Kara recognised were loading whole pallets of gold bars onto a strange drill with tech she thought was unsettlingly familiar.

They were crouched behind a barrier of fallen boulders, when Vykin stood and calmly approached the Intergang grunts, against Superboy's calls.

"That drill and these carts are the property of New Genesis" he announced "you _will _return them, _now_"

"Yeah, gold to" Kara agreed, flanking the young man.

"Interfere, and things get ugly" a tall redheaded woman warned "I'm ugly" a large man with a strange piece of equipment concurred. He grabbed a pair of protruding handles, and a cannon swung down to snap into place on his front. Kara now fully recognised the tech.

Ugly fired a volley of small red discs, which Vykin stopped by raising a jagged shield of rock in front of him, but four flew past, and stopped mid-air around him, shocking the hero with red jolts.

More flew at the group, and Serifan destroyed a group before they could hit Bear. Moonrider attempted to shoot off the discs around Vykin, but was hit in the back by another, which attached to him, and summoned a ball of loose earth to trap him.

Now, two more goons were using weapons similar to Ugly, and the woman, know as Whisper, pulled out a pair of red energy whips.

"These weapons aren't from New Genesis" Dreamer exclaimed "they are of, the _enemy_"

"What enemy?" Connor asked.

"_The _enemy" she explained "the gods of anti-life. These weapons are of..."

"Apokolips" Kara finished. She ran ahead and lasered the discs around Vykin off, and helped him up.

Whisper jumped over her subordinates and swung her weapons at the heroes, which Vykin again blocked with a shield of earth.

"The confines of this tunnel favour their weapons" he said "we must bring this battle into the open"

Bear and Connor helped the others out of the vertical exit, and followed behind them once Wolf made it back to the top.

"I have no wish to prolong this battle" the leader of the Forever People told them. Moments later, a loud rumble was followed by the drill carving out a path for Intergang to climb out of.

"Fear not, she will protect us" Vykin reassured the tense Supers.

"Who, Dreamer?" Connor asked.

"The New Genisphere" Vykin corrected as Sphere in it's bike form flew overhead, firing a pair of lasers at the gang.

"Cool" Superboy smirked "wait, Sphere's a she?"

"It is time" Vykin announced.

"For the love of Rao, stop speaking like that" Kara exasperatedly demanded.

Vykin held Motherbox above his head "Ta-roo!" The Forever People called, and in a flash of golden light, they morphed into a large robotic man, taller than a house, gold and blue in colour.

"Could you imagine if _we _could do that?" Supergirl asked her cousin in awe.

The tall man calmly strode over to the Imtergang members, and ignored their attacks of mud slicks and red discs, vaporising two of the chest cannons, and using a sonic blast to throw away all but Whisper, who was too thrown away just after her whips were destroyed as well.

Ugly and the men used their own Motherbox, or rather a Fatherbox, to open a boom tube, and leave the construction yard, against Whisper's pleas to wait. She was then thrown to the ground by a metal pipe wrapping around her body.

The large robot opened another boom tube underneath the drill, and de-morphed into the Forever People once again.

"What was_ that!?" _Connor asked them.

"Infinity man" Dreamer explained "we merged to become part of the source, and greater than the sum of our parts"

"Glad _my _team's not that close" Connor crossed his arms.

"Aw, I'm hurt" Kara playfully elbowed her cousin.

"Lower beings tend to fear intimacy" Bear dryly remarked.

"And now I'm offended" the blond girl frowned.

"This doesn't make any sense" Vykin voiced his thoughts "how are these human acquiring technology from both New Genesis and Apokolips?" They all approached Whisper.

"I'm not talkin'" she said "_you _were not _asked" _Dreamer placed her hands on her temples, and her eyes glowed a bright purple. Beside Whisper, an image of a deformed man in a maroon robe appeared, he choked out a gravelly and broken laugh.

"Desaad" Dreamer gasped the thoughts of all but Connor.

"Look, I'vee been remarkably patient" the cloned boy said "y'know, for me... What is going on?"

Vykin nodded to Dreamer, and she projected a second image, of two planets. One blue and full of life, the other red and molten death.

"The New Gods come from two worlds at war" she narrated "those of us from New Genesis are gods of life, freedom, and the source. Our enemies from Apokolips are gods of anti-life, slavery, and degradation" she turned to the image of Desaad "this is Desaad; god scientist, and chief torturer of Apokolips. His experiments are pure evil, his works abominations, his master..."

"Unspeakable" Kara whispered.

"You are familiar with the old god Darkseid?" Vykin asked her.

"I should be" she frowned and looked away "I was captain of his honour guard"

The Forever People gasped and trained their primed powers on her "_you _were a Fury!?" Dreamer gasped.

To defend herself, Kara explained the situation "when I first came to this planet, I wasn't actually able to remain long. Only months after I arrived and became acclimatised, I was taken away by... A friend. But then one day, Darkseid attacked the home I had been taken to. He kidnapped me, and locked me away on Apokolips" she walked over to the Desaad projection "_he _tortured and brainwashed me into loyalty to Darkseid, and then Granny Goodness trained me to be not just a Female Fury, but their leader no less" she looked away as the image dissipated in a puff of smoke. "Finally I was rescued by Superman, but I imagine Darkseid isn't fond of losing."

"We apologise for our judgment" Vykin said, and the blonde held up a hand.

"Don't worry, I guess we aren't that different" she thought back to her treatment of Kaldur just after being attacked by the Reds. "But we should try to stop Ugly now, and I think I might know where to go"

A short flight later, the Kryptonian had led the group to an old airstrip on the outer reaches of Metropolis. She landed on the ground, with the two pieces of New Genesis equipment landing on either side of her, and immediately scanned the area for heat signatures.

"That one" she pointed to a particular hangar, somehow untouched by time.

Motherbox pinged in Vykin's hand "Motherbox says there's a large cache of Apokolipton technology inside"

Connor turned to scan the hanger using his own, slightly less developed, super-sight.

"Infrared vision shows no heat signatures" he reported.

"And the lead lining these hangars is blocking my X-rays" Kara told them "but be ready"

Dreamer and Superboy entered the large hangar disguised as a pair of armed goons, while the girl kept the others invisible.

"Still no heat signatures" the Norman-Connor said "place is _defiantly _deserted" just as his sentence ended, and their disguises were dropped, the lights of the building snapped on, revealing a them to be surrounded by a large amount of armed Intergang grunts "though I could be wrong."

"This tech masks heat signatures" Ugly said, stepping forward "visor filters out illusions. We gotcha" he fired a large explosive round, and forced the group to scatter.

Kara ran to one side as a pair of grunts armed with identical cannons to Ugly simultaneously fired at her. She ducked behind a metal support beam, and thought quick before noticing the two men were underneath a large light fixture, dangling only by a somewhat thin cable.

She ducked out from her cover, and lasered the cable, causing the light to fall and trap the two under it, while giving them a mild mixture of burns and shock in the process.

"These weapons resist my magnetic power!" She heard Vykin announce "we will soon be overrun. It is time"

"This wont take long" Bear told Connor. Kara hovered over to her cousin, and stood next to him as a pair of goons armed with spear-like devices rushed them.

"Not a bad night after all, huh?" She asked him.

"What do you mean?" He replied, knocking out his attacker.

"Well-" she smacked her own attacker across the room with his own weapon "-sure beats spilling your guts out to the League, yeah?" He didn't answer her, only turn back to fight more assailants.

Over to another side, Kara watched Ugly throw a small dark box at the Forever people midway through their fusion into Infinity Man. He doubled in size, and turned a bloody red colour, turning to stare down the two Supers.

"That can't be good" Connor frowned.

Behind the red Infinity Man, a deformed figure in a purple robe stepped forward "kill the boy, leave the girl" he ordered with a sickly grin.

Infinity Man reached down, and threw Connor through the large metal hangar doors. Wolf and Kara followed him out. Recovering, they looked on as Infinity Man tore the doors apart himself, and stalked out of the hangar at them.

Behind them, Sphere beeped a few times while shifting back into her spherical form.

"Good, uh, girl. We'll fight them together" Connor praised, right before the machine rolled away from the incoming fight.

"We'll, you can't blame her" Kara supplied.

After only a short time, it became clear that even with a Superman tier power-set, the two cousins were grossly outgunned. Superboy had just been tossed into the tail of a dormant plane, Wolf following soon after, and Supergirl was only just standing back up from when the large man had stomped her, literally, into the ground.

Connor tried to hit the large attacker with a plane tail fin, but it was blown to pieces, and counter-attacked by Infinity Man crushing the two with a plane. The large man-beast picked up a half-conscious Connor, and began to squeeze.

Kara, recognising her own, and therefore Connor's, limitations, tried to stop the vice grip before it could turn deadly, but was stopped when Infinity Man's hand grew a bright gold, and Kara's own body copied in kind, forcing her to a standstill.

Wolf soon recovered, and jumped at Infinity Man, who was forced to smack the large canine away with one hand, freeing Kara, and smack the other in the ground to deal with Connor. It lifted it's hands as a sign to attack Connor, but was stopped when a familiar Sphere rolled up, unraveled itself into a beetle like shape, and attached itself to Infinity man's head, turning the goliath back to it's natural blue and gold.

On top, a piece raised to become a pair of motorcycle like handlebars. "Sphere you're beautiful!" Connor smirked. He jumped up on top of the head, and lifted an arm to block an incoming RPG

"Our turn"

Out of the left hand, a large golden energy beam swept the ground, and knocked away most of the enemies.

Kara ran for a disoriented Ugly, and threw a chain of punches at him. She grabbed the shoulder frames of his chest-cannon, and tore the contraption off. Shortly after, a voice called out from above her "pull!"

She grabbed him by the collar, and threw the large man high into the air, as hard as she could. Following his ascent, Connor fired Infinity Man's eye-beams at the soaring man, and burnt his shirt off, catching him on the way down.

Back near the hangar, a boom tube opened, and just before entering, Desaad threw a small device high into the air which, when destroyed by another eye-beam from Infinity Man, set off a large explosion, defusing the Forever People.

"Now _that's _what I call a big bang" Supergirl smirked, until she noticed the damage Sphere had sustained in the explosion.

"She's... Hurt" Connor frowned, and it mildly stung that he seemed to care more about Sphere than he did about Kara back in the botched training assignment.

"Her damage may be beyond repair" Vykin warned "but Motherbox will try" he placed the device on Sphere's hull, and the bent plating and frayed systems miraculously began to weave together again.

The large piece of tech returned to her spherical shape, and remained silent.

"The healing process has begun" Vykin told him "and will be completed on New Genesis"

Superboy turned back to him in shock "sorry what?"

"We thank you for your help Superboy, you too Supergirl" said Dreamer "but we must take the New Genesphere home now."

"No! No way!"

"Why should we leave her with you?" Serifan asked "to us she lives, to you she's merely technology"

"No! It's not like that!" Connor tried to defend.

"Then what is it like!?" Bear demanded.

"We bonded okay!" Connor yelled, placing a hand on Sphere's hull.

"In fact, it is" Vykin shook hands with Superboy "you may keep her"

On their way home, which they had been forced to walk while Connor carried Sphere on his back, the clone began to notice Kara's silence "hey..." He tried to get her attention.

"Yeah?" She asked distractedly.

"Are you... Are you okay?" He awkwardly asked her.

"I-" she almost told him the whole story, told him about the painful memories drug back up from her encounter with Desaad, and what happened after the failed training exercise. She _almost _told him "-I'm... Fine... Just fine" she told him.

He looked away and refocused on not dropping his mechanical companion. He didn't believe Kara at all, but he guessed it could wait.

* * *

**A/N So, I kinda feel like this is just Kara following Connor's 'big day out', but I figured the Darkseid connection and having only the two supers involved would allow me to explore Kara's pre-Young Justice days, and her tentative relationship with Connor... And it feels like a third wheel experience now between Connor and the Forever People, but whatever.**


	18. Secrets

**A/N The story still lives! And will continue to do so into a sequel that I'm going to begin some time soon which spans the second season, and hopefully another story that will follow the time between seasons 1 and 2, maybe even a hypothetical season 3!**

**Another thing is some reviewers like to leave suggestions or questions on what will happen next in the story. I'm not going to be giving out spoilers for future chapters, but every piece of advice or review is taken incredibly appreciated, and so far they've all been awesome ideas, so thank you very much.**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
****October 31, 19:34 EDT**

"Recognised: Supergirl B0-4"

Kara entered the cave, meeting the sight of Connor wrapped in bandages, sitting on a couch that had, for some reason, been dragged out of it's place in the lounge.

M'gann was in front of him, wearing a torn white wedding dress, her face painted to look like a corpse, and her skin a pure shade of white.

And Wally wore a basic lettermen jacket, with wolf-man fur stuck to his face.

"Wow, looking scary guys" she smiled.

They turned to her, and almost immediately noticed her own outfit, which was identical to her usual casual outfit, with the addition of her Linda Lang wig and glasses.

"Kara, where is your costume?" The Martian girl asked.

A beat passed, and then the Kryptonian realised what she meant "oh, right. I forgot to mention that I can't come to your school's party tonight" she shrugged.

"Then what _are _you doing?" Connor asked.

"I have a life _outside _of the team" the blonde replied "a friend invited me to a different party back in Metropolis, she's performing there, and I promised I'd go. Basically, I'm just here to check in before I head back."

"Cool, musician babe, you should introduce us" Wally suggested with a light smirk.

"Yeah, and then she can introduce your face to her foot" Kara retorted, a matching smirk.

"Is it anybody I- _we _know?" Connor asked.

"I don't think so, her name's Siobhan, we go to the same university" Kara noted her cousin's strange reaction for later questioning.

"Hey, looks like great minds think alike" Captain Marvel interrupted, facing M'gann as he entered the ops area. His face was also painted to look like a corpse.

"Captain, you look terrific" the Martian smiled back, as he grinned proudly "are you going to a Halloween celebration too?"

"Well, sure. I'm going with- I mean, you did invite the _whole_ team, right?" He stuttered

"Yeah, we'll all be at the dance," she told him "so don't worry about us, go, have a good time at your party"

"Recognised: Artemis B0-8, Zatanna Zatara A0-3."

Both girls entered the cave behind in their respective vampire and witch costumes.

"Oh, hey, Zatanna, you look great" said Artemis.

"Oh, thanks, you too" Zatanna replied.

They turned to the already gathered group, taking note of Captain Marvel's appearance.

"What's up with zombie Captain Marvel? It's hilarious" they asked Kara, who shrugged.

"Is the Justice League having a party? Cause my dad didn't mention it" Zatanna asked him.

"Neither did Kal" Kara agreed.

Marvel stuttered again, telling them no "see I- fine" he glared "I'm going trick-or-treating" he went over the the zeta tubes.

"Recognised: Captain Marvel 1-5"

"And I'm not sharing my candy" he then zapped out of the cave.

"Well... Not weird at all" Kara stared after the Captain as he left "but I guess I should be leaving too" she walked to the zeta tubes herself, "Artemis, Zatanna" she greeted the girls as she walked away "don't do anything I wouldn't do"

"Recognised: Supergirl B0-4"

**Metropolis  
****October 31, 20:32 EDT**

"Alright everyone, make some noise for... Siobhan Smythe!" A man on stage announced, and the crowd packed in the dingy club applauded. Kara stood to the left of the stage, waiting for her friend to emerge.

The silver-haired Irish-born musician walked onto the stage as the announcer left, a guitar gripped tight in her hands.

Without bothering to greet the crowd, the band behind her counted in, and the song immediately hit a fast, grungy tempo.

Due to Siobhan's gravely voice and heavily Irish accent, Kara didn't understand a word, but the music sounded enjoyable at least.

Very quickly, the crowd got very into it, and you could see the effect it had on Siobhan. Her performance grew in energy, and even the moody onlookers at the corners of the room began to nod along to the music.

Just as the song reached it's climax, a loud gunshot rang out, overpowering the music, and shocking the building into silence.

"Excellent performance everyone, really" a large man walked towards the stage, his right hand clutching an equally large gun "but I'm afraid we don't got no time for an encore"

He raised his weapon to the roof once more "everybody kneel, hands behind your heads!" When nobody complied with his orders, he fired twice "now!"

Deciding to obey rather than break her secret identity, Kara slowly dropped to her knees, and glared at Siobhan onstage to do the same. She did.

"That's _much _better" he grinned at the obedient crowd "my name, is Bounty, and I'm lookin' for a little girl" he stalked the kneeling crowd. Out the corner of her eye, Kara saw Siobhan shift towards her guitar, lying only a foot away.

"A little girl what calls herself, _Supergirl" _he growled in derision. Kara felt her pulse quicken. If he was looking for Supergirl, then it probably wasn't a coincidence he was here.

He stopped walking near the stage, and tilted his head slightly in Kara's direction, "and _someone _in here's been talking to her little hero friends" he was, of course, referring to the times she would hang out with Aqualad, Robin and the rest in her Linda Lang persona.

Bounty turned, and slowly stepped over to Kara. Siobhan moved slightly faster, just inches away from her guitar.

Bounty raised his gun, and aimed it directly at Kara's forehead. If he fired, then Linda Lang would be good as dead.

"Talk little miss, or this place gets a paint job" kara stared hard into his eyes, consequences be damned. And just as her squeezed the trigger ever so slightly, Siobhan was on her feet, and swing her guitar at Bounty's head. The wood splintered, and he turned to snarl at her.

Kara thought quick, and grabbed him by the arm, but she didn't account for how strong he may have been, and was thrown through the wall behind her as a reflex.

Now lying in a pile of rubble in the next room, nearly invisible from the outside, Kara came up with a new plan.

Fortunately, she had worn most of her costume beneath her normal clothes anyway, all but her boots and cape, which she could live without, and only had to tear them off, along with her wig and glasses, to transform into Supergirl.

Now she just needed an entry. Going the same way she left would surely cause suspicions of what happened to the ballsy brunette that was just tossed like a salad, and dropping through the roof could harm any number of civilians with falling debris

Peeking through the gaping hole in the wall, she smiled as Bounty crept over to it. Seeing an opportunity to strike before he could see her, she grabbed him as he stepped right next to the hole.

She used the dark to her advantage, and snuck in a few solid hits to his surprisingly tough body. She then grabbed him by the beck of his collar, and the back of his waistband, and threw him like through the wall behind her, into the streets outside.

Moving fast, she flew up to stand on the roof of the building as he recovered, trying to look like she had only just arrived.

"Who are you, and what are you doing?" She glared at him.

Still on hands and knees, Bounty twisted his head slightly, coughed up a splatter of strangely blackish blood, and grinned at her.

"The Supergirl, where's your cape?" He stood up.

"You tend to lose a couple minutes of prep time when police radios go off about some armed psycho terrorising a party"

"Shows what you know" he cracked his neck "I'm the most stable guy I've met"

He pulled another gun from the inside of his jacket, and fired it at her. It looked frighteningly similar to Bloodsport's weapons.

The information didn't register with her quick enough though, and soon she felt the small green rock slice though her arm, only grazing, but enough for her to feel it. The hole in her shirt quickly melded itself back over the wound, and her blood began to seep through the material.

"Oh, did that hurt?" He mocked.

"Not as much as this will!" Kara flew down to her opponent, aiming for his mid-section, but he side stepped her, leaving her behind him, and leaving a hole in the ground where she _did _hit.

"Missed me"

"No I didn't"

She spun around, and threw her leg out to hit him in the gut. It connected, and he was sent flying back to the club, and through yet another wall, leaving him now sprawled out in the middle of the stage.

She stepped over to the newest hole in the building's exterior "oh, did that hurt?"

"Not even a little" he chuckled, and stood back up.

"What are you _made _of?!" She exclaimed.

In lieu of a reply, Bounty grabbed a cymbal from the drum kit behind him, and threw it like a frisbee at Kara, who allowed it to hit her head, and break from the impact.

On the stage, Bounty laughed heartily.

"Everyone, get out" Kara ordered. Immediately, the frightened crown sprinted away. Kara saw Siobhan glance at the hole 'Linda' had been thrown through in worry, but decided to follow the order.

"Well, now that we're all alone" Bounty said, regaining her attention.

"Should be put on some music?"

"Naw, it'll just distract us."

"Don't even _think _about going easy on me."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

They ran towards each other. Kara ducked under the first hit, a wild punch in her direction, and he jumped backward to dodge a kick she sent.

They continued like this, swinging at one another, and dodging each other's attacks. They would periodically pick up pieces of furniture around the place, and use them as weapons. Between Kara's powers and Bounty's uncanny strength, the building was beginning to look more like a block of swiss cheese.

Kara was knocked away from Bounty by a table, and ended up leaning on the bar. She turned, pried it off it's bolts, and threw the whole bench in Bounty's direction. Jumping back, he swung his feet up to meet it, and kick the bench into the roof.

In seconds, the whole roof collapsed on them both, and Kara was left on the ground leaning against the wall behind her in exhaustion.

Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, but upon opening them, only met the end of a rifle.

"It's been fun, but I got a job to do" she closed her eyes again, and flinched at the high scream of... Not a gunshot.

Her eyes opened, and saw Bounty was now glaring at a new figure. By the door, stood the black and white figure of the Silver Banshee, the electric blue of her eyes seething.

"Who in the hell are you?" It didn't answer, only stalked forward towards him.

"back off kid, I'm a man on a mission" he lifted his gun in her direction.

Still not done, Kara kicked hi legs out, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Banshee let out another cry, and he was sent sliding across the debris ridden floor.

Standing back up, and cracking his neck, ready to face Banshee properly "bring it on" he goaded.

the Banshee sprinted at him, and swung a fist out to hit him with as much momentum as possible. Instead of meeting his flesh though, he used her momentum to swing around, and push it down into the edge of the stage. It's arm was still outstretched though, and hit the stage with a solid thud, it was probably hurt.

Bounty looked at the twi recovering heroines appraisingly, and decided to quit while he was ahead... for now.

"Well, looks like tonight just isn't my night" Bounty said "guess my boss will just have to give me a project extension."

He walked over to the wall of the building, and broke a large hole in it to jump through, and run away.

Kara stood back up, and grunted, clutching her ribs.

Silver Banshee did the same, only holding her left arm to her chest.

"What are _you _doing here!?" Supergirl glared at the woman-like thing before her.

"Picking up your mess, apparently" the Banshee retorted in it's distorted voice.

"What do you mean by that!?" the blonde yelled, offended.

the Banshee simply looked around at the levelled club, and the hole where Bounty had escaped by busting through the wall... again.

"Collateral damage, it's a side effect of _saving lives" _Kara defended "and besides, I had that."

"All _you _had, was a gun aimed at your head."

"I'm Kryptonian, he wouldn't have done anything."

"That cut on your arm, and the Kryptonite bullet over there would argue."

"You are _such _an arrogant... Ugh."

They stared hard into each others eyes, not budging an inch. Silver Banshee allowed her eyes to finally drift over to the hole in the wall, and sighed, closing her eyes.

"Look, we both have our own ways of fighting villains" Banshee finally spoke "but I have no problem admitting he just about beat me, and if you have any modesty, you'll admit the same."

"What's your point?" Kara raised one brow.

"On our own, Bounty was able to defeat us both, but together..." She trailed off.

"We could beat his butt raw" Kara finished.

They were both silent again "what's your plan?" The blonde asked.

"Do you know why he was here?"

_'To kill me' _she thought "no"

"His name is Bounty, and just before he ran away, he mentioned something about a master or employer."

"So you think he was _paid_ to kill me?"

"Yes, and if we want to find him, we have to put _you_ somewhere in plain sight" Banshee explained.

"Well... What if we found someone to commit a crime, I stop them in a really public area, and when he attacks, you can ambush the guy."

"Then we defeat him, and find out who hired him" Banshee finished.

Kara sighed "fine, let's go."

**Metropolis  
****October 31, 22:34 EDT**

An alarm went off inside a jewellery shop on the corner of a nondescript road, a young man in a ski mask running out, with a bag jangling on his shoulder.

"Stop him! Someone!" The shopkeeper screamed into the night.

Just as the man was reaching for the door of a stopped but running car on the sidewalk, a red blur sped pat him, and stopped in front, clutching his outstretched wrist.

"No no, we _don't _rob nice shopkeepers" Supergirl scolded.

She dragged him by the wrist over to the shop, and wrenched the bag from his grasp, dropping it by the feet of the store manager.

"Now, the police should be her in about, five minutes?" She pretended to think hard for a second "is there _anything _you want to get off your chest before they get here?"

Almost immediately, the tears welled up in his eyes, and he wailed in fear, falling to his knees. "Please don't arrest me miss! Please please please! I'm just a dumb kid, I'll never be so stupid again!"

"Okay, you're getting it all over my skirt" she tried to kick him off.

"Stop whining kid, you aren't going nowhere" a deep voice called from behind them.

Kara smirked, and turned around "Bounty! Long time no see, ready for round two?"

"You bet, and I even packed more ammo this time" he raised hi gun at her.

Just as he was about to fire, a high pitched scream permeated the sky. His arm was thrown to the side, and the gun fell from his grasp.

"You too!? Now that's just unfair" he glared at the Banshee to his left.

"We're heroes, that doesn't mean we have to be _fair _heroes" Kara told him.

In response, he whipped out another gun from the back of his waistband, and fired it wildly at the Kryptonian. She rolled to the side, and continued moving away from his line of fire, while turning him away from the Banshee, who was rushing to meet his back.

"You can't rum forever!" He called to the fleeing Supergirl.

She stopped suddenly and turned to him "and _you_ can't take your eyes off the main threat."

Suddenly, he spun around to where the Banshee _was _standing, only to find it directly behind him. The Banshee grabbed his arm, the one holding the gun, and used it to throw him over her her head. While he was in midair above, Kara flew at him with a fist out, and hit Bounty far down the street with enough force to break his ribs.

But as he travelled through the air, Bounty swung his legs underneath, and skidded to a stop, standing upright.

"How is he taking this beating!?" Kara exclaimed "no human could-" suddenly it dawned on her. "Banshee, we can't win this" she said.

"What? We almost have him finished"

"No, trust me, our only hope is to draw this fight out until the police show up"

The Banshee looked at her strange, then nodded. Hopefully Supergirl was right."

They rushed him together, and began to jump around him, dodging his attacks, while striking whenever they found an opening in his own defence.

They weren't doing enough to actually hurt him, but they could tell he was becoming frustrated, and when someone got frustrated, they became reckless.

In a last ditch attempt to actually hit one of the girls, Bounty threw both arms out to either side, and spun himself around. His efforts were rewarded when he actually connected with the chest of Silver Banshee, and threw her to the ground, on her back.

He grinned in success, and raised his foot to stomp on the Banshee's vulnerable head. But he had forgotten about Kara in his focus, and was promptly hit in the underside of his jaw, and sent arcing through the air, landing with a heavy thud down the road

Kara held a hand out, and helped Silver Banshee up. They turned back to Bounty, noticing he was standing once more.

But he looked feral, and held a gun in each hand, aiming both at the heroines in front of him.

"You wan't to humiliate me!?" He screamed "I am Bounty! I am your doom! I am-"

"Totally done for" Kara finished for him, as loud sirens filled the night air, and several police cars drove up to surround the three.

"Drop your weapons and put hands we we can see them!" Ordered on of the officers.

Bounty looked like he calmed down, and dripped to his knees, placing both his weapons on the ground, and his hands behind his head.

Kara walked over and knelt in front of him "and now to find out who you _really _are" she gripped the front of his face, and tore it off, revealing a metal skull beneath, with sparks and wires everywhere.

"You're a robot?" Banshee asked incredulous.

"I am _more _than a robot" it growled.

"Yeah, you're also scrap" Kara threw her fist forward, and tore a hole through it's head, her arm protruding out the other end, with a fist of circuits.

She turned back to the Banshee "think we could talk somewhere private?" She asked.

Silver Banshee nodded, and they walked away from the scene, allowing the police to handle Bounty's remains.

**Lex Corp Roof  
****November 1, 00:03 EDT**

They stood atop one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis, staring out over the city.

"Why do we hate each other?" Kara asked her companion.

"I guess that's just what happens when two people like ourselves have conflicting views of the same thing."

"Well they shouldn't be conflicting, it's all just..."

"The same"

They went silent again.

"Thank you for saving my life earlier" Kara said.

"That's okay, I know you'd do the same for me"

"Would I?"

"You would, because it's who you are"


	19. Misplaced

**Mount Justice  
****November 5, 19:35 EDT**

"Recognised: Supergirl B0-4"

Kara stepped further into the Cave. Artemis stood before her, looking slightly crestfallen at her presence.

"Not happy to see me?" she laughed at the other blonde.

"What? Oh, no. I was just expecting Zatanna, but, I mean-"

"Calm down, I get it" she held a hand up, I'll even wait here with you for her to arrive.

And she did, for a little over ten minutes, until the zeta tubes finally whirred to life, announcing the entrance of the young sorceress.

"Hey Artemis" she waved upon entering "oh, and Supergirl. Sorry I'm late, I had to practically beg my dad to let me visit"

Wordlessly, they walked over to the elevators down to the hangar, where the rest of the team were waiting.

"Did I miss anything?" Ever since Halloween, there had been noticeable changes. Once or twice, Zatanna had visited, and Artemis was acting ever closer to her than Robin. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Silver Banshee were beginning to work together quite well, and upon investigation of the tech she had retrieved from Bounty's head, Kara found referencing in some audio transcripts stored on his memory of Project Pygmalion, the very same found in Morrow's base.

"Not really, just some friendly bonding" Zatanna reassured.

"You know I don' t judge people on who they love, right?"

The girls sputtered at her words, and in a rush to end the conversation before it began, Artemis spoke several decibels louder.

"In any case-" the doors opened "-glad your back Zatanna" Artemis said as they left the elevator "does this mean your officially joining the team?" The two blondes looked to her questioningly.

Zatara cast a spell to lift some of the crates Batman had sent Miss Martian to pick up, and Red Tornado lifted the larger ones with his own powers.

"I don't know" Zatanna said "Zatara's _so _overprotective. I mean, just getting him to let me _visit _takes a whole days wheedling. I wish he'd just give me a little space."

"Well you know what humans say, be careful what-" Kara's comment was cut off when she, and the present Leaguers disappeared from the room.

"Dad!" The youngest girl cried. The others looked up and gasped at the sudden disappearance of the League and their teammate.

"Artemis, where is Kara!?" Aqualad demanded.

"I-I don't know! She was here and then..." They all ran to the main area to begin an investigation on what had happened.

Meanwhile...

"-You wish for..." Kara looked around and noticed both Artemis and Zatanna were gone, so was the whole team actually.

"Zatanna!" The nearby magician cried.

Kara ran to the Leaguers "Zatara, where is-"

Batman cut her off in a surprisingly down-to-earth tone "calm down Kara, we'll find them" he signalled for the remaining cave occupants to follow him.

He led the group to the main area of the cabe, and opened up the computer interface, where a long period of silence followed.

Missing persons reports flooded the space around them, and breaking news stories from all across the globe played on hologram interfaces all around.

"Well, what happened!?" The Kryptonian girl wasn't in the mood for Batman's impassive calmness.

"Reports indicate that all over the globe, anybody younger than the age of eighteen has vanished" he explained.

"What? How is that even possible!?" She turned to Zatara.

"Not even I know" he told her "this level of sorcery, if it is indeed such, is beyond my understanding."

She sighed in frustration and rubbed her temples "well... In my experience your people tend to riot when you don't understand what's happening" she walked towards the exit "I'm gonna go tide the inevitable chaos, call me when you have a plan"

**Metropolis  
****November 5, 20:00 EDT**

As soon as she stepped out of the alleyway her zeta-tube access was located in, Kara was met with the sound of a large mob of worried parents somewhere in the main business district of Metropolis.

She took to the skies to survey the city, and pinpointed the location as being somewhere near the Star labs Metropolis branch. Thinking quick, she flew down to the building.

Arriving at the scene, she found the front entrance of the building being barricaded from the inside by frightened scientists and frustrated guards. Outside, a large group of men and women ranging from their late twenties to their early seventies yelled and brandished whatever makeshift weaponry they could.

"And I thought we were _past _the dark ages" she remarked to herself, before dropping down to the ground.

"Everyone, please calm down" she tried to placate, but her words were lost on the mob.

"Please! May I have your attention!" She tried again, and still to no effect.

"HEY!" She finally snapped, and the booming sound quieted the whole group, who looked at the young woman now hovering a few feet above the ground "I need you to all return home, now" she ordered them, but they didn't budge.

A large man stepped forward and pointed at her "why should we?" He demanded.

"Because rioting in the streets is _illegal_" she replied in a dry tone.

"Well who cares what's illegal when out children are missing!?" Another woman cried.

"Yeah, and how come _you_ managed to escape!" another man accused.

"Maybe she's to blame!"

"Certainly would explain why we don't have the Justice League's help!"

Kara was fed up with the constant accusations from the upset mob "HEY!" She quieted them again "let me assure you, I am _not _responsible for what happened to your children, believe me, I lost some friends tonight as well. As for the League, they _are _trying. We are searching _tirelessly _for the missing kids, but right now, rioting in the streets _wont_ bring them back. Please, go home and stay together, hold your loved ones tight and be patient. Because we _will _get them back"

A moment passed where nobody moved, and then a man who first spoke out nodded, and turned back. Soon, the rest of the mon followed, accepting Kara's words, and trudging home to wait out the hypothetical storm, while Kara flew out to check in on the riots across the world.

**Mount Justice  
****November 5, 22:53 EDT**

After a while of patrolling the globe with the League, Kara finally returned to the cave to find Batman asking Zatara to locate the source of who made the children vanish, much like he had to find the Injustice League base a while ago.

"Of course I can" she heard Zatara say.

"while you do that, I'm going to put a message out there, there's only so much I can do in person, but widespread speech should help" she was trying to do all she could to help.

The blonde walked over to another part of the Cave, and opened up a virtual camera, programming it to broadcast to all televisions, phones and computers in the world.

**(A/N to keep this smooth, i'm going to do the speech part as bold for Kara, not bold for the team)**

"Attention children and teenagers of Earth"

**"My name is Supergirl, a young hero, and a friend to many others who have disappeared in the last few hours"**

"We know you must be scared, and angry"

**"I know with your children missing there is temptation to blame those who have power, such as the Justice League"**

"But please, stay calm"

**"We **_**will **_**find a way to return your children, nieces, and nephews"**

"But for now, the oldest among you, _must _step up"

**"Take care of your neighbours"**

"Take care of kids who have no one"

**"We can and **_**will **_**find who has done this, and bring them to justice, but for now"**

"It is up to you"

Aqualad cut the transmission, and turned to his teammates.

"Do you think Supergirl's okay?" Miss Martian asked.

"I am certain she is fine" Aqualad reassured.

Kara cut her own transmission and returned to the Leaguers.

"Do we have a location?" She asked.

"Yes" Batman didn't even look up from the monitor he was using to contact the League "Roanoke Island"

Zatara left the room, and Supergirl began to type on her own monitor

"Can you contact the League for help?" She asked

"No, they're too busy stopping riots all over the world, and Captain Marvel is missing"

"Then... I guess I'll go speak with Zatara"

She found the man in Wally's souvenir room, gazing at the Helmet of Fate.

"So, how desperate are we?" He asked her, as if she were a colleague.

"Batman has informed the League that you found the focal point" she informed "but they're all out trying to divert the chaos" she sighed "it's just Bats, Tornado, you and I"

"I would do anything to get my daughter back"

"And I'd do anything to get them all back too, but we both know there are many other ways to lose a loved one" they turned back to the helmet.

"So, not that desperate, not yet" he confirmed "the entire League is unavailable?"

"We tried to contact Captain Marvel, but he's missing"

They both walked back to the main area to rejoin Batman in monitoring the chaos.

"Recognised: Captain Marvel 1-5"

"Alright guys, i'm here to-" he cut off, and flew forward to tightly embrace the Leaguers "your back! Is it over? Where's the rest of the team?"

"Didn't you hear?" Supergirl frowned "everyone on Earth younger than eighteen is-."

"Kara wait. Captain, where have you been?" Batman asked

"On a world with_out _grown-ups!" He looked extremely shocked "holy moley, there are two worlds!"

"Two dimensions" Batman corrected "one for adults-"

"-And one for kids!" the Captain ended.

"How are you traveling between them?" The blondegirl asked the man.

"I think... I _know _how" he stepped back "SHAZAM!" And he was gone in a flash.

"Wait, how old is he?" They shrugged in reply to her.

**Children dimension**

"It works!" Billy Batson cried. He turned to find the team, sans Supergirl, staring at him.

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad demanded.

"Quick, read my mind" the boy requested.

Miss Martian's eyes glowed a moment, and then she gasped "he's Captain Marvel"

"Yeah, and I'm Speedy Gonzales" Kid Flash replied "look, just because he _believes _he's Cap-"

"Gee Wally, do I really have to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" The boy smirked.

"He's... the real deal."

"Where _did_ you come from?"

"Another dimension where all the kids in the world have disappeared" he explained "whenever I become Captain Marvel, I go there instead."

"Excellent, we can use this to coordinate with the League" Aqualad said. He looked thoughtful for a moment "is Supergirl..."

Billy cut him off "yeah, Supergirl's fine, I didn't realise she was so old though"

**(A/N bold=adults again)**

**"There will be threats to both dimensions, and we may not be familiar with our opponents" Batman said.**

"But the key to this mission is a coordinated simultaneous attack" Aqualad replied.

**"Agreed" Batman said "our best chance against sorcery is to strike fast, disrupt their efforts"**

"And to hope the two dimensions merge naturally back into one"

Batman exited the cave and entered the waiting bat-plane. Tornado, Marvel and Supergirl flew alongside him, and Zatara used a floating platform of orange energy to move himself.

_"When we get there, we'll all have to strike hard, and fast" _Batman explained over the comm _"Captain, I want you to hold back so you can relay messages to the team, understood?"_

"Got it"

**Roanoke Island  
****November 5, 23:42 EDT**

When they reached their target, they found four old mages chanting around an orange glowing pentagram. Wizard, Wotan, Felix Faust, and Blackbriar Thorn.

They landed on the ground around them, and Batman threw some batarangs at Thorn, only for him to stop the Dark Knight with a large tree, wrapping it's limbs around him.

Tornado landed and fired a gust of wind at Faust. The fiery mage blocked the attack and fired a jet of flames back at the android.

Supergirl flew down to intercept Wotan, catching him by surprise and landing a solid hit on his jaw, but the old man was fast, and immediately fired a ball of energy back at her. She took the ball in the gut and was sent flying back several metres.

Zatara hovered above the field and summoned bolts of lightning to hit the four mystics, temporarily incapacitating them.

The amber coloured jewel in the centre of the pentagram shine, and soon the electricity was absorbed into the gem.

Wizard lifted several large boulders from the earth and fired them at Captain Marvel, who punched them both into pieces with ease. Two more came up and trapped him between the two large sections of rock. He still broke out easily.

"Captain, wait" Zatara called "that mystic gem, Ambre Jour Verdou, is the conduit of the sorcery. Without it, nothing may keep apart two worlds meant to be one."

"I'll tell the team, SHAZAM!"

Kara, meanwhile, had recovered, and was now flying through the air, avoiding Wotan's bolts of magic. "Zatara!? Can I get some, AGH!" A bolt came dangerously close to her "help! please!"

"Ecalp a citsym reirrab dnuora Lrigrepus!" An orange sphere appeared around Supergirl, and Wotan's next blast bounced right off it.

Back in Thorn's tree, Batman used the claws on his gloves to cut through the branches and free himself from the tree. As he fell, he threw two explosive batarangs at the tree, destroying it.

Supergirl flew to hover beside Zatara, and a loud clap of thunder sounded, Captain Marvel was now beside them both.

"Zatara, I was sent to tell you that Zatanna put on the Helmet of Fate!" He said.

"She did what!?" Zatara roared.

"Captain, you have to go back and-" Supergirl was cut off

"No, the sooner we end this, the sooner you guys can help her. Keep the bad guys distracted, I have an idea" Marvel flew high into the air, and then threw himself down, spinning himself to just about drill into the earth.

While Wizard busied himself with trying to break through the shield Zatara had conjured up, Faust fired bolt after bolt at Tornado, and Thorn attempted to snag Batman with another tree.

Supergirl took advantage of the personal shield Zatara gave her to turn Wotan onto defence. She fired short bursts of her laser-vision at him, which each blocked with large orange shields.

Marvel flew back up through the ground, bring the jewel with him.

"Zatara catch!"

The mystic caught the gem and held it up "yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!" Suddenly, Klarion appeared in the empty point of the pentagram, his head and hands trapped in a shining gold ankh. The four older wizards collapsed on the ground, and the team came into existence around the older heroes.

"They sure don't make evil immortal sorcerers like they used to, oh well" Klarion snapped his fingers and the ankh vanished. "Fun while it lasted Teekl!" The large saber-tooth pinning Superboy ran to him and morphed into the small cat Kara remembered from Wally's fight with the witch-boy "see you later, armadillos! Unless I see you first!" The boy jumped through a vortex of red energy, and was gone

"Aren't you gonna stop him?" Wally shouted to Fate.

"To what end? Klarion is Chaos personified, he cannot be contained."

"Guys!" Kara flew to M'gann and pulled her into a tight embrace, before grabbing Connor, and finally Kaldur, giving each a bone-crushing hug.

"Supergirl, we're glad you're okay" the Martian grinned.

"You guys too" the blonde's gaze soon drifted to Zatanna, hovering in the sky as Dr. Fate "mostly."

Zatara looked up to the possessed girl "Fate!" He seemed to rethink his words for a second "great Nabu, release my daughter"

A beat passed "no" the team gasped, and the Leaguers narrowed their eyes.

"Witness what has been these last past hours… The world needs Doctor Fate" the possessed girl told them "and the girl's natural affinity for the mystic arts make her the perfect candidate."

"She's too young, I didn't mean you could take a _teenager" _Kara yelled at him.

"Kent would never allow you-" Wally began.

"Kent Nelson did object, strenuously, so I released his spirit to the afterlife. He is gone."

Zatara looked thoughtful for a moment "take me instead" he asked Nabu "my skills are already at their peak, my body is physically stronger, better able to withstand the strength of your power."

"All true" Fate agreed "but if I remove the helmet, what guarantee have I that you will don it?"

"My word" the Italian sorcerer swore.

Zatanna dropped back down to the ground, and pulled the Helmet of Fate off. She immediately ran for her father, and pulled him into a tight embrace "Dad!"

"Zatanna, remember, I love you" he gently pried the helmet from her hands "take care of my girl" he asked Batman

"You have my word" the man promised.

Zatara walked away, and Zatanna tried to stop him "No, please! This was my fault! Dad, don't! Dad!"

She collapsed on the ground, and the team crouched down around her.

Fate, now using Zatara's body, flew away with the defeated sorcerers, and the team decided to return to the Cave, before helping Zatanna with what she should do next.

**Mount Justice  
****November 7, 09:16 EST**

Kara walked at the rear of the group, carrying the largest and heaviest box in her arms. Some of the team had come to the cave to help Zatanna move her stuff in, now that her dad was Dr. Fate, she needed a new home.

"...And my room is right next door if you need anything" M'gann said. Everyone placed the boxes they had down.

"I... Could use a little alone time"

"Of course" everyone left the room with Robin lingering in the doorway a moment.

A while later, Kara was in the kitchen making herself a snack. Anyone else who didn't live in the cave had gone home, and M'gann had forced Connor to go shopping with her.

The Kryptonian pulled two Pop Tarts out of a box and cooked them in a few short seconds with her laser-vision. The sound of the door whooshing open caught her attention.

Zatanna walked in, her eyes looked red, and she still seemed upset.

"Pop Tart?" Kara held one of the treats out. Zatanna politely declined.

"Uh, look... If it's any consolation, I know _exactly _how you feel" the blonde gently smiled as the other girl took a seat at the counter.

"You do?" She frowned.

"Yeah. It was only a few years ago... Well, a few decades technically, when _my _father died... and my mother... and my whole planet" Kara frowned herself at the memory "it was... horrible, when I left Krypton... The pod I traveled in had this little window... I could see, _everything_ I had ever known just... dying, right there before me."

"Don't you ever talk to Superman about it?"

"No" Kara clarified "he was only a newborn when it happened, Earth is all he's ever known... Kinda makes me feel a little lonely. For a while I felt like nobody would ever understand."

"Oh... I'm sorry" Zatanna frowned again.

"Don't be, it's not like you imploded my planet" Kara reassured "but that's beside the point, what I'm trying to say is that..." She cut off and allowed her eye to roam, searching for the right words.

"It won't be easy, I'll tell you that. Losing a parent, or anybody for that matter, it's hard, and even though you haven't technically lost your dad, you may never see him as _him_ again, which is difficult, but if you ever have a moment where you just want to talk, or even have a shoulder to lean on, we're here, all of us" the blonde smiled and stepped out of the room to let Zatanna have a moment to take her words in.

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**A/N Now, I'm not sure, but I think I keep calling Supergirl a teen, despite her being twenty now, so that's something I'll strive to avoid in future.**


	20. Coldhearted

**A/N Still loving every review, it motivates me to stop being lazy, and produce content. This is going to be a shorter chapter, and that's because I couldn't find too much content outside of however Supergirl would take out a flying ice fortress, but the next will be a bit longer.**

**I've also been meaning to regularly add **_**this**_** in;**

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

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**Mount Justice  
****November 11, 15:00 EST**

"Recognised: Supergirl B0-4"

Kara walked into the cave, her hair a mess, coated lightly in snow, and holes in her suit still healing over. She was panting slightly.

Up ahead, the team sans Wally looked at her strangely "sorry I'm late guys, human trafficking in Central Africa, I made a bit of a mess."

"Isn't the point of being on a covert ops team to be, y'know, covert?" Robin asked.

"Well why be _covert_, when you can be _overt?"_ she shrugged "also, I was flying around Africa in _this-" _she held up her bright red cape for effect "-especially garish outfit, saving some people from potential slavery, stealth wasn't exactly a priority"

"Well you're here now, so we can get started on Wally's party" M'gann grinned.

They all walked into the Cave's lounge room to set up for Wally's 'surprise' birthday party. The surprise was relative, as the boy had been all but subtle in his desire to have one.

Immediately, M'gann and Zatanna went to work in the kitchen, while Artemis and Connor watched on and helped every now and then.

Kaldur, Robin and Kara picked up decorations, and began getting the area ready for the party apart from the others.

"Hey, Kara?" Robin suddenly called from his position setting up balloons.

"Yeah?" She called back, pinning a 'Happy Birthday' banner along the roof.

"Just a random thought, but how come you _never_ seem to actually go to school?"

The girl froze in her efforts, and looked away in deep thought. "I... really don't know... maybe- maybe I..." She was stumped. Kara did indeed actually attend university, despite the redundancy of it, and had a reasonably good habit of actually attending lectures there, but admittedly, it didn't seem to be the case... somehow.

Moving on from the somehow disturbing question, the three made quick work of decorating the room, while the girls in the kitchen managed to cook a feast in far less time than it should have taken them.

Shortly after, Red Tornado and the Flash entered, before immediately setting out to finish decorating the room for Wally.

Taking a break from decoration duty herself, Kara took a seat beside Artemis, both looking back into the rest of the lounge while Zatanna finished up the cooking behind them.

Superboy and M'gann were in one corner, whatever they had been doing forgotten, as the two acted very... Couple-y.

"So, they're dating" Artemis announced without inhibition. Both girls looked at the Kryptonian, expecting a response.

"Yes, they are" she answered without looking at them.

"Wait, that's it? No shock and anger? No betrayal that your cousin never told you?"

"What? Why would there be? I knew they were in a relationship ever since the Belle Reve undercover mission."

They looked genuinely surprised at this admittance "and Connor's only known me for less than six months, he's entitled to keep a few secrets."

"Well... that is _not _the reaction I expected" said Artemis.

They were silent for a little while "wait, you didn't notice them act all kiss-y after Belle Reve?"

"Well..." Aretemis went red faced "Wally doesn't know either!"

"Yes, but Wally is a _moron_, who still thinks if he flirts hard enough, he has a chance with _me, _let alone the Martian dating a clone."

Silence once more, until somewhere outside, they heard the Zeta tubes come to life.

"Recognised: Kid Flash B0-3. Zeta-tube network now offline due to extreme atmospheric conditions"

"That's him, quick, everyone hide, someone turn the lights off!" Robin ordered. They all stepped away from the door, and somebody plunged the lounge in darkness.

Outside the room, Wally could be heard talking to himself.

"Whoa! Just made it!" His footsteps closed in on the room "be a tragedy if I missed my own-"

He was cut off by the lights in the room turning back on, and the people inside calling out "surprise!"

"Wha~at?! Aw, you guys! You shouldn't have!" The redhead exclaimed, his surprise clearly feigned.

"Right" Robin laughed "not like you've been hinting for _days_ or anything" that much was very true, Wally hadn't been discreet about discussing his birthday.

They sat the young speedster down on the couch, before the mass of food set up on the table. As a cone-shaped hat was flicked onto his head, M'gann leaned over to tell him how they's made two birthday cakes.

"Awesome, what'll you guys eat?" He asked, half joking.

"We'll split the cupcake, make a wish" the whole 'make-a-wish' thing still eluded Kara's understanding, but she ignored it.

"Way ahead of you" Wally then blew the candles on both cakes out at once, and everyone cheered.

"Y'know, if I _tell _you my wish, it won't come true" the boy told M'gann, his words holding an impish tone "but if you guess."

M'gann held out the first slice of birthday cake to him "nope, guess again" from the side, Kara noticed Artemis turn away fro the scene with a dirty expression.

M'gann kissed Wally on the forehead, and wished him a happy birthday, to his displeasure, and Artemis's amusement.

Elsewhere, Robin handed Zatanna a plate of cake. On the couch, Wally stuffed cake into his mouth, and the team blondes stepped over to the youngest members.

"Think we should tell him?" Kara asked.

Looking over, the redhead continued to flirt with M'gann.

"He _is _the only one who doesn't know" Robin admitted.

"Then please, allow me" Artemis walked over and sat beside Wally. The rest could see her speak into his ear, before pointing at Connor and M'gann, who were once again acting very intmate with each other.

"Aw man!" The speedster whined.

"Attention team" Batman's voice interrupted the party over the cave intercom "suit up, polar stealth, mission briefing in five."

A few minutes later and the team were standing in a line before a large screen displaying Batman's face.

In the background, the snow storm which had been going all day was audible.

Kara immediately noticed the League member previously present were now missing "where're Flash and Tornado?" She asked.

"Flash and Red Tornado already have their assignments" Batman replied "a massive ice storm has paralysed North America from coast to coast-" a hologram of a strange floating... thing, spewing out snow appeared before them "-satellite imagery has detected five flying Ice Fortresses, source unknown, which seem to be responsible and must be stopped."

"Well, can't the Watchtower blow them out of the sky, or something?" Wally complained.

"What's a "Watchtower?" Zatanna asked Robin.

"It's a long story" Kara whispered.

Batman sighed in exasperation with Wally "the League's orbiting Headquarters is _not_ weaponized.

And with both Green Lanterns off-world, I need all hands on deck."

The whole team suddenly perked up "does that mean what I think it means? The League and the Team, fighting side by side?" Robin asked his mentor.

"Superboy, use the Super-Cycle to rendezvous with the Batplane at Ice Fortress 1" Batman said in lieu of confirmation "you'll drop off Robin and Aqualad, then continue on with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at Ice Fortress 2. Miss Martian, Artemis and Zatanna, take the Bio-Ship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter at Ice Fortress 3."

He turned to Kara "Supergirl, you will fly to Ice Fortress 4, and meet with Superman, Doctor Fate and Captain Marvel. Sending all coordinates now."

"Uh Batman? I think you skipped..." Wally stepped forward.

"Kid Flash, a young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, you'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run the 3,000 miles across country" the Dark Knight told him.

"Who is this girl?!" Wally exclaimed.

"Does it matter?"

"No of course not. But can't we zeta-"

Robin interrupted him "zeta tubes are offline, sorry."

"Right, then how could I say "no"?" wally seemed _very _upset "guess I won't be needing the stealth" he hit the icon on his chest, and the white of his costume bled back to it's usual yellow. "Speedy delivery boy at your service."

"Law enforcement across the country has been alerted to your mission and is clearing your route" Batman told him "move out."

The team walked to the hangar, and the boys excepting Wally jumped into Sphere, while the girls excepting Kara entered the Bio-ship.

Kara placed a hand on Wally's shoulder "this probably won't make you feel better, but to be fair, the 'Red' androids attack us on _my _birthday, so at least _you_ get to save a life."

She then followed M'gann's ship as it flew out of the hangar, her white cape fluttering behind.

**Lake Michigan  
****November 11, 16:40 EST**

Arriving at the fourth Ice Fortress, currently floating over the slowly Freezing Lake Michigan, and found Superman and Captain Marvel smashing or tearing off parts of the fortress, while Dr. Fate prevented any of it's attacks from landing with large golden ankhs of energy.

She flew towards Superman, who was currently prying a turret out of it's socket, disrupting the hail of icy projectiles. She dropped down on the other side of the turret, and dug her own hands into it, lifting the weapon up, and meeting eyes with her cousin as they held it above their heads.

"How nice of you to join us" he smiled.

"I was a little busy celebrating a friend's birthday" she retorted, smiling back at him.

Giving one last mighty tug, the two ripped the turret out of it's socket in the fortress, and threw it at an adjacent turret, both exploding in a cloud of smoke and fire.

Elsewhere, Captain Marvel was attempting to follow up what the Supers had done, by slowly tearing another turret up on his own.

Fate flew around above him, and protected Marvel from other turrets with his magic.

Superman flew off to continue disabling the fortress's weapons, as Supergirl went over to Captain Marvel.

Dropping back to ground beside him, she too jammed her hands under the turret, and began to tug it from it's socket.

"Hey, you're here!" He grinned happily.

"You didn't think I'd miss _this, _did you?" She smirked at the literal man-child.

Turning back to their work, the two slowly broke the turret from it's bearings, and Marvel swvered the electrical cabling below, before the girl tossed the now defunct turret away.

Supergirl flew up to survey the scene. The League members continued to slowly de-weaponise the fortress, but the thing continued to hover, snow and ice spilling out from underneath. The blonde looked at the openings where snow shit out from, considering that perhaps if the flow was backed up somehow, it could cause sufficient damage to it's internal systems, so that one well placed impact could tear through it, and send the fortress crashing to it's end in the lake below.

Flying over to her cousin, Kara formulated a quick plan.

"Kal!" Kara yelled over the wind whipping past her ears. He turned back to her from where he floated over the still hovering fortress "I have an idea!" He flew over to her "destroying those turrets is pointless if we don't stop the fortress..." She explained her plan to him, and he nodded, flying over to Captain Marvel, while Kara flew to Dr. Fate.

"Fate!" She yelled "we have to block the ice flow from the fortress. Set up mystic barriers over them to back up the snow" he nodded, and threw his arms up.

Large golden ankhs appeared over several of the ports, stopping the ice from leaving.

On the unaffected flows, Superman and Captain Marvel bent the metal to cave in on itself, and eventually, the snow came to a stop, packed into the fortress.

To finalise the plan, Supergirl rocketed high into the sky, far enough up that the fortress became no bigger than the size of her fist if she held it out. Waiting a second for the flows to all be stopped, and the ice to really back up the fortresses systems, she threw herself down.

Moving at the velocity of a bullet, Her body hit the metal with the force of a missile, and tore through it like a knife. Metal was cleaved apart, and she swore she hit some vital systems on the way through. Holes were torn in her suit, the jagged metal edges left behind from her hitting it leaving the formerly immaculate, albeit snowy outfit, filled with gaping holes.

Around her, metal creaked and groaned, while fire and smoke spewed out wherever it could. She retreated from the slowly descending fortress, and took up a spot floating beside Marvel Fate and Superman.

The four heroes watched on as it slowly fell into the great lake. Smoke billowed out of it, and fires raged above, while snow sputtered out from underneath. Finally, it hit the frozen cover of the lake, and shattered the icy platform. Soon, the broken husk of the fortress was submerged in the water.

"Great work you three" Superman commented "especially you Kara, way to think quick" he wrapped an arm around his cousin.

The four separated, heading to see if the other fortresses were still operating, or if the rest of the League had managed to destroy them too.

**Mount Justice  
****November 12, 10:21 EST**

Kara entered Wally's souvenir room, passing Robin as he made his way out, and found the redhead inside, staring at the heart transplant carry-case he had ran across the country just hours ago.

"So Wally" she broke him out of his reverie "if what I'm hearing is true, you decided saving a little girl's life was more important than the League team-up?"

He adopted a cocky smirk "well, that's just what I do babe."

Kara lifted one eyebrow at him "despite your endless supply of arrogance-" he frowned, offended

"-I'm proud of you" and instead he looked surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah" she shrugged "the point of being a hero isn't to kick villain butt, the point is to save lives, even if it's by running cross-country with a vital organ strapped to your back" Kara turned on her heel and walked away, feeling accomplished.

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**A/N Like I said, short, and kind of weak I feel, I may review and rewrite it at a later date, but this is it for now. Also, I'm sorry this is all I've got right now, but the next chapter is almost done, so that should be good.**


	21. Image

**A/N warning in advance, I made my biggest alteration to the original story yet in this chapter, but I'm sticking with the decision.**

**I know there'd usually be a longer wait between uploads, but I couldn't resist throwing this up so quick after the last chapter**

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

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**Mount Justice  
****November 17, 17:30 EST**

"Duck" upon the instruction, Connor dropped down a bit, allowing his opponent's leg to swing gracefully over his head.

"Left" he threw his body to the left, expecting the next move to attack his right side. Suddenly, Robin's foot connected with Connor's gut. It didn't hurt him, not even slightly, but the hit caught him off guard, and the clone recoiled in surprise.

"No, his attack came _from _the left, focus!" Kara scolded from where she stood to the side.

"What's going on?" A voice asked as it entered the room.

Kara turned to greet Black Canary "the rest of the team are all out right now, so rather than sit around and wait for you to arrive, I decided to put Connor through some extra training."

"Really?" The woman's eyes widened "wow, I'm... I'm impressed" Canary smiled "well, continue."

Kara nodded and turned back the sparring boys. Under the appraising eye of Black Canary, she directed Connor through a series of attacks and moves. Some of which he grew frustrated at, but Kara remained notably patient with him.

"Okay boys, go take a break, you've done enough for now" the two panting boys nodded, and walked away to cool off, while Canary approached Kara once more.

"That was excellent, how you handled Connor."

"Yeah, well, there's no point in answering his anger with my own."

"That's a very... mature outlook" she didn't say anything else, but the Kryptonian suspected there was more to Canary's words than what was offered.

**Mount Justice  
****November 22, 09:12 EST**

Robin threw a punch at Kara's stomach when she wasn't focusing, connecting with a thud.

"Are you getting slow in your old age?" The boy mocked.

"No, just underestimating the little boy with a big ego" she smirked back.

She squatted and swept a leg where his feet stood. The boy jumped over her attack, and threw his own foot at her head. Kara tried to move, but only felt a boot impact her cheek.

"Okay" she said, standing back up "maybe I _do _need some more practise" they stepped back a couple of paces, and took up some combat poses.

"Recognised: Batman 0-2, Martian Manhunter 0-7."

The two League members entered the cave slightly rushed.

"Batman, Manhunter, what're you doing here?" Robin asked.

"I called them to discuss something of importance" Red Tornado's robotic voice answered from behind.

"Supergirl, Robin, we need you two to leave" Batman ordered.

Robin walked away reluctantly, but Kara stayed put.

"I said-" "I heard what you said" the blonde interrupted Batman "but this sounds important, and if it's important, and you're discussing it here, it concerns the team, and if it concerns the team, it concerns _me."_

Batman met her icy glare with his own, but grunted his permission.

"I called you here to discuss this surveillance footage recorded during one of Superboy's private training sessions a few days ago" Tornado loaded a video of Superboy and Black Canary sparring. It seemed normal, as Canary threw Connor onto his back, as was common during their training, but then it got weird.

Canary began talking to the boy with a very... flirtatious tone, before grabbing, and kissing him deeply.

Batman and Manhunter frowned, and Kara gasped audibly.

"Th-that can't be right, Black Canary would never-" Tornado cut her off.

"There is more" moments later, Canary's skin morphed into a light green, and her hair turned red. Soon, it was simply a shot of Miss Martian hugging her boyfriend.

Kara sighed in relief, but Batman still seemed disturbed.

"She'll want to see this" he said, and Manhunter nodded, before messaging Canary to meet them in the cave.

"Recognised: Black Canary 1-3, Green Arrow 0-8."

A short while later, both her and Green Arrow entered, wearing their civvies, looking concerned.

"We came as soon as we got your message" Canary told them.

"What's the problem?" Arrow asked.

"There's something you both need to see" Batman reopened the footage for both to watch.

When it got the kiss, "Dinah!" "Freeze playback!" The couple exclaimed at once "that _never _happened!" The blonde woman pleaded.

"You need to keep watching" Batman interrupted "play" the footage resumed, and ended with the shot of M'gann and Connor "freeze playback."

Green Arrow burst into laughter, and Black Canary glared at him "don't you laugh! She and- he and- Oliver, this is _not _funny!" She yelled.

"No, it isn't" Kara cut in, her face harder than usual.

"Please understand" Martian Manhunter began "on Mars, this is a common game. My people all shape-shift, but also read minds, so no one is ever misled, and I am certain Connor knew he was with M'gann from the very first."

"We're not _on _Mars, J'onn!" Canary turned her glare at the martian.

"No, but my niece does not understand things are... _different _on Earth."

"Then I'll _make _her understand" Canary stormed off towards M'gann's bedroom.

"I guess I can almost understand M'gann's situation" Kara shrugged "I've been on Earth for a reasonable amount of time now, and I _still _get confused with some of your customs."

"Yes, but even so..." Batman trailed off when a news alert caught his attention. Turning on a large holographic screen, the five watched a news story explain the major developments going on between Bialyan and Quraci governments.

Once the clip finished playing, Batman's eyes narrowed, and he activated the cave's intercom "Robin, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian, report for mission briefing" Tornado, Green Arrow, and Manhunter left the cave shortly after.

Once the present teammates had gathered, Batman rewound the new footage to it's beginning, a shot of Rumaan Harjavti, the president of Qurac.

"Rumaan Harjavti is the democratically elected president of Qurac" he opened some other footage of Harjavti shaking hands with Bruce Wayne "Harjavti has been praised as a fair, wise leader, a humanitarian."

"Sure, any friend of Bruce Wayne's" Wally mumbled to Robin and Kara.

"But five days ago, Harjavti allied himself with the dictator of the neighbouring nation of Bialya" Batman continued, opening both an image of a dark-skinned woman beside Harjavti, and a map of the two nations "Queen Bee."

"Hmph, not a fan" Connor glared.

"Few are" Batman agreed "but Harjavti suddenly backs Queen Bee's baseless claim that Qurac and Bialaya were one nation in ancient times, and has announced the countries will reunify in two days at a ceremony in Qurac" he then played the first piece of footage opened, a press conference held by Harjavti before a stain-glass portrait of Queen Bee.

"After the ceremony, I will step down as president, so that our _rightful _monarch, Queen Bee, may rule" the image switched to one of Queen Bee at her own conference "I lord president Harjavti for unifying our peoples, and I will _gladly _come to Qurac to be crowned _sole _leader of our nation."

"And the Quracies are okay with this!?" Wally asked.

"Hardly" Batman told him. Images of Quraci citizens openly protesting the decision appeared on screen "they are _well _aware of the brutality of Queen Bee's regime, but Harjavti has censored the press, silenced all legitimate protest and invited the Bialyan military into his country to enforce martial law."

"Queen Bee _has _to be controlling Harjavti. Doesn't she have the power to enthral most men?" Robin asked.

"And some women" Batman agreed "but not long distance, and we have confirmation she hasn't left Bialya. Something else is at work here, find out what" he turned to Kara "Supergirl, you're team leader."

"Oh, me? Really?" The blonde asked "not Aqualad or... or Robin?"

"Aqualad is busy helping Aquaman, and _you're _the next logical choice."

"Got it" she nodded confidently.

**Qurac  
****November 22, 23:56 UTC+2**

"We should be over the Qurac-Bialya border by now" Supergirl announced, sitting front and centre in the Bio-ship.

"A border the Bialyans are in the process of ignoring" Kid Flash commented.

Below, Bialyan tanks drove over the flimsy wire fence between the two nations, frightening the wildlife into a stampede.

"No opposition. Guess Harjavti really _is _in bed with Bialya" Connor called out.

"Wouldn't expect opposition here" Robin explained, looking down at a holographic display from his glove "it's an animal sanctuary."

"The _Logan _Animal Sanctuary?" M'gann suddenly asked him.

"You've heard of it?" Robin retorted in surprise.

"Guys, tanks have caused a stampede" Kid Flash told them "with civilians in harm's way!"

Looking further out, Kara could see two people, a woman and a boy, kneeling by an injured animal

"I see 'em, a woman and a small boy" Connor vocalised her thoughts.

"We _have _to help them!" Miss Martian cried.

Kara thought hard. If they were quick enough, they could still reach Harjavti before the ceremony, but it'd be tight "we'll deploy, but stay in stealth mode. Any wrong move _can_ and _will _cause an international crisis."

Flying low, M'gann fired the Bio-ship's laser cannon in front of one tank, causing it to crash into a second. Bialyan soldiers piled out of the tanks, and whipped their weapons out, keeping their eyes open for any sign of activity.

A red and black birdarang flew into the ground among them, and erupted into a plume of smoke as a black and red blur sprinted past, taking their weapons.

More cannon shots from the Bio-ship frightened the rest off, back into Bialya.

As the stampede of wildebeest neared the two civilians, Connor dropped to the ground, grabbed one by the horns, and slammed it into the dirt, causing the stampede to split and run around the group.

The injured animal suddenly stood, and ran right into the stream of wildebeest, the boy yelling after it.

Emerging from among the frightened animals, Kara flew up slowly, holding the panicking oryx by it's middle, keeping it above the rest until they ran past.

As soon as the dust cleared, Robin and Kid Flash arrived beside them.

"Are you both alright?" Robin asked, while Kid threw the pile of rifles away.

"Mom, mom, mom!" The boy turned "we were just saved by Robin! And Kid Flash!" Above, Kara cleared her throat loudly, and dropped to the ground behind the boys, "Supergirl too!"

"Well, Superboy and Miss Martian _also _helped" Kid p told the boy.

"Oryx!" He embraced the animal as Kara placed it back on the ground.

"We diverted the Bialyans away from and around the sanctuary" Supergirl informed the woman "you should be safe for now."

"Uh, yeah, coast is clear Miss M" Kid smiled "you can de-camo now."

The girl replied by removing her hood, and becoming visible "h-hi"

"You may have made things worse" the woman wasn't as impressed as her son "Bialyan border crossings are a way of life here, usually they wreck a few fences and move one, engaging them may have made us a target."

"Mom! Uncool" the boy whined.

She sighed "I'm, sorry, I should thank you, this is my son Garfield, I'm-"

"Marie Logan!" M'gann cried gleefully "i can't believe I'm actually meeting you in person!"

The wildebeest Connor slammed earlier limped over to them, and Marie dropped to her knees to check on it "the oryx is sick, and I think you injured this wildebeest."

"Uh, sorry?" Connor replied.

"I suppose it was unavoidable" Marie sighed "both need to go to our clinic."

"Supergirl and the boys can do that!" M'gann volunteered "you and _I _can, um, fix your fences!"

Kara sighed "M'gann, the mission-"

"Supergirl!?" "please mom!?" Both Garfield and M'gann begged.

Marie sighed, and Kara shot a glare at her teammate, but the martian answered with a hopeful face of her own, "fine" the women agreed, and the other two grinned "yes!"

By the time the boys and Kara made it to the Logan's house, Kid Flash had begun on his third snack for the walk, and the sun was finally beginning to rise.

They moved the injured animals to the clinic-barn, and Garfield led them toward his house.

As they passed a tree, a money dropped onto Connor, screeching, and jumped over Kid, taking his snack, landing on Garfield's shoulder.

Kid yelled in panic, and the younger redheaded boy laughed "it's okay, meet Monkey" he introduced.

"Good name, but I _hate _monkeys" Connor glared, just as the animal threw Kid's protein bar into his face.

"Looks like Monkey hates Superboys" Robin smiled.

"Dude, be glad he only threw a protein bar" said Kid Flash.

"So pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom, huh?" Garfield said as they entered the house's living room.

"What do you mean?" Connor asked.

"I mean she looks _exactly _like my Marie, y'know, except greener."

"She does?" Kid asked.

"Well duh, especially back when Mom was a TV star on 'Hello, Megan'."

"Hello, Megan is a show?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"I just thought is was something she _said _all the time" Robin commented.

"Yeah" Garfield told them like it was common knowledge "_on _the TV show. _Way _before we were born-" "before _you _were born" Kara muttered "-only one season, you can't even find it online. I know mom has a tape somewhere..."

As Garfield went over to the shelves, looking for the tape, Kara stepped over to a window, and stared out, keeping her ears strained for any suspicious noises.

"Hello, Megan! The pilot episode" Garfield announced.

He pushed the tape into a box under the TV "woah, you still have VCR" Kid noticed "where's your eight track?"

"Wait" Connor said.

"You hear it too?" Connor nodded to his cousin "some aircraft incoming, fast" she told them. They ran out of the house, but Kara turned before exiting, "Garfield, stay here, don't move" she ordered, before exiting behind her team.

"What is it?" M'gann asked as she and Marie approached them, seemingly done with the wire fences.

Above, a trio of fighter drones flew over them, firing thier weapons at the two. M'gann tackled Marie to the ground, and Connor crouched over them as protection.

"Where's my son!?" Marie cried.

"I ordered him to stay in the house, he should be safer there" Kara told her.

"He's eight, he doesn't _do _orders!"

"Mom!" Garfield called from the clinic-barn as he pushed apart the doors "it's okay, I got the animals out!" One drone flew over the barn, and shot a gas tank beside it until it exploded, destroying the barn, and sending Garfield into the air with a sea of shrapnel.

Kara immediately flew to him, catching the boy mid-air, and wrapping herself around him to avoid any major damage caused by the shrapnel. Holes were torn out of her costume, but they slowly healed themselves over.

In her arms, Garfield's head lolled to the side, the boy unconscious. She flew him back down, and gave him up to his worried mother.

Above, the drones continued to fly, and Connor and M'gann took off to deal with them.

"I _told _you there'd be consequences" Marie glared at the remaining Kryptonian.

"What's done is done, get him inside" Kara answered.

They rushed into the house with Robin and Kid Flash, allowing Marie to place Garfield in a bedroom at the rear of the house.

She set up an IV, wrapped him in bandages, and donned a stethoscope, placing it to the boy's chest.

"He's in shock" she told them "and he needs a blood transfusion, now" she turned to Robin and Kid Flash "are _either _of you O negative?"

"No" "sorry" they answered.

"Neither am I, it's the hardest to match. I kept a supply in the clinic" she frowned.

"I can run him to the nearest hospital" Kid offered.

"The nearest hospital with a guaranteed blood supply is half an hour away at your top speed, longer for Supergirl, _or_ by Bio-ship" Robin denied.

"He doesn't have that much time" Marie told them "what about your blood type?" She asked Kara.

"Superboy and I are Kryptonian, our blood would likely _poison _him" the blonde explained "and Miss Martian-"

"Might be able to help" a small voice called from the hallway "my shapeshifting occurs at the cellular level. I think I could morph my blood to match his."

"Please, try" Marie begged.

"I'll need to concentrate" M'gann told them "no distractions."

"Out! All of you, out" Marie demanded.

Kara and the boys left, taking seats in the living room once more.

"This has just been one, big, screwed up mission" Kara groaned "we're _way _off schedule, we almost caused an international incident, endangered some innocent people, almost _killed _an eight-year-old, and on top of that, Harjavti steps down _tomorrow_, leaving the _entire_ country vulnerable to Queen Bee's regime!" She glared at nothing in particular "Kid, Rob, can either of you turn the news on?"

"Sure, which remote is it?" Kid asked, using one, only instead of the news, and old TV show intro began with a school bell ringing.

_'Hel~lo, Megan!'_

_'School and boys and parents too'_

The show's full intro played out, showing a girl literally identical to M'gann in her human form, Megan, including the girl saying the phrase 'hello, Megan' and her hugging a boy that looked _a lot _like Connor.

"Maybe it's a coincidence" the clone reasoned.

The creepiness of similarity between the show and M'gann came to it's climax when the boy turned out to be named 'Connor.'

"Oh yeah, pure coincidence" Kid muttered to Robin.

"It's done" M'gann spoke up from behind them, and Kid fumbled with the remote to switch the TV off "all we can do now is wait" in Kid's fumbling, he actually turned the TV over to a press conference held by Rumaan Harjavti.

_"My fellow Quracies" he called._

"Is that Harjavti?" M'gann asked.

_"Queen Bee's rule is a gift to Qurac"_

"Hey that guy in back" Connor exclaimed "I _know _him."

Robin held up a holographic screen and zoomed in on the man in question.

"It's Psimon, the psychic we fought last time we were in Bialya" M'gann agreed "he was working for Queen Bee then, he _must _be controlling Harjavti for her _now._"

"I still remember the headache from when he brain-blasted us!" Kid groaned.

"Yeah, but _you _weren't poisoned" said Supergirl "but now we know how to stop Queen Bee, we need to separate Harjavti and Psimon."

"I think it worked, Garfield's stable" Marie interrupted them, entering the room.

"Good" Kara told her "because _we _have a new mission plan. Miss Martian, summon the Bio-ship"

**Dhabar  
****November 23, 22:11 UTC+2**

Inside Harjavti's presidential palace, the team quickly shuffled through the ventilation system, Robin at the front, using a holographic display of the palace layout to guide them into Harjavti's study.

Stopping by a vent below him, Robin fed a small cable trough the slats, turning it a few times, before pulling it back through.

"Harjavti's alone" he explained. Not waiting for orders, he swiftly dropped through the grate into the office below, the team following him, while M'gann hovered above them, invisible.

Kara stepped over to Harjavti, who sat in his office chair, a tired expression pulling back on his face.

"Where's my daughter?" He asked "where's Psimon?"

"Doesn't matter, we're getting you out sir" the blonde replied.

The doors to the room then shot open, and Bialyan soldiers poured in, training weapons identical to the ones Intergang got from Apokolips on the team.

A Bialyan officer stepped in behind "well well, American heroes, here to assassinate the president. Such a shame we arrived too late to stop them."

_"Those are Apokolipton weapons" _Connor identified via a mind-link.

_"They're going to kill Harjavti, blame us, and allow Queen Bee to take Qurac unopposed." _Kara surmised.

_"I found Psimon!" _M'gann told them, flying out of the room.

_"I'll get her" _Connor offered.

_"No Connor, our objective is to save Harjavti" _Kara stopped him.

Hearing a weapon fire, Kara shot over to stand between it's wielder, and Harjavti. The energy projectile hit her in the shoulder, but did little damage to the girl.

"Darkseid, you never learn" she muttered, turning to the soldier.

Soon, the room erupted into chaos. The boys attempted to take down the soldiers, breaking their weapons and knocking soldiers unconscious. Through the frenzy of action, Kara maintained a close eye on any blasts moving towards Harjavti, either blocking them with herself, or pulling the president out of harms way.

Not too long after the chaos began, it ended, and the last of the Bialyans fell to the ground. A woman who looked similar to Harjavti ran in, and immediately dropped to his side. She identified herself as his daughter, and assured the team she knew of Psimon's part in the whole situation.

"Thank you for saving my father" she told them "we will take care of him now."

Running from the room, they immediately set out for M'gann and Psimon.

_"M'gann, we're coming-" _Superboy was cut off when a blast of psychic energy hit them, forcing the group to drop to the ground, gripping their heads in pain.

A while later, they storred to life again. Kara pushed herself onto her knees, and was hit with an immediate wave of ringing in her skull.

"And there's the headache" Way grunted.

"At least I wasn't poisoned" the blonde rubbed her head, and winced, "what happened to Psimon?" She asked Miss Martian.

"He brain-blasted you, I stopped him" over on a nearby pile of rubble, Psimon lay, drool slowly pouring from his mouth, eyes glazed over. It was a sight that made Kara actually feel slightly sympathetic for the man.

"Harsh but... I guess it couldn't be helped" she frowned.

Getting up, they made their way back to Harjavti's office, meanwhile, Kara began to think about the mission in her head. A first, she had been confident in her abilities as a leader, but after the incident with Garfield, M'gann running off earlier, and allowing herself to be incapacitated by Psimon, she wasn't so sure.

"Supergirl?" Miss Martian's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Wh-what?"

"I asked what the next step is."

"Oh" she looked away for a second "I have an idea" she announced.

Soon, the team found themselves waiting as M'gann disguised as Queen Bee, put on an act with President Harjavti to trick the world into knowing who was really behind the whole plan.

Stepping back into the presidential office, M'gann morphed back to her regular, green form.

"Sorry about that" Kara spoke up "but it was the only way to convince everyone that Queen Bee was behind all this."

"Again, I thank you for freeing me of Queen Bee, and Psimon's control" Harjavti told them.

"It's okay, but we should really leave now" Kara told them.

Another short while later, they were back in the Logan house's living room, watching a news broadcast of Bruce Wayne and Harjavti meeting.

_"And, I assure you, the Wayne Foundation is here to do whatever it can to help you, and your people, to rebuild Qurac."_

Marie turned the TV back off.

"Gee, Bruce Wayne sure got here fast" Wally said "almost like he knew-ungh!" The bot was interrupted by Robin and Kara simultaneously elbowing his gut and smacking his head.

"Don't you have a souvenir to collect or something?" the Boy Wonder said.

"Hello, Megan" Wally walked over to the VCR, lifting the 'Hello, Megan' tape, and holding it in front of M'gann "something you'd like to tell us?"

Looking around the room, the Martian sighed "growing up on Mars was... not a happy time for me. I started watching broadcasts my uncle sent from Earth, to teach us about our sister planet. When I saw Hello, Megan, something just, clicked. Maybe it was the similarities in our names, maybe it was the way all Megan's problems could be solved in 22 minutes, all I know for sure is; that Megan helped me smile through a lonely childhood. So, when I came to Earth, and had to adopt a human form, I chose you. Well, Megan"

"Which begs the question" Robin spoke up "what do you really look like?"

Standing up, M'gann morphed her hair away, and her face changed slightly to more resemble her uncle's.

"Bald M'gann" Wally commented "still hot" he whispered. Kara cuffed him in the head again.

"You know you don't have to put on a mask for me" Connor took her hands.

"I do it for me" she corrected "this is who I am, inside, please don't be mad"

"Mad?" Marie said "I'm honoured. M'gann, you saved my son, he says he's your blood brother now, and I agree. You're family."

The Martian ran over, and the two hugged "thank you, you can't know what that means to me" the younger woman gushed.

Walking away from the room, Kara couldn't help but feel like something sinister was happening, right below their noses. She shook the feeling off.

**A/N Supergirl in charge, yeah. I know this was an important event in regards to Robin finding his identity apart from Batman, but I needed to put Kara in charge in order strengthen her own personal development, you'll see.**


	22. Agendas

**A/N So, this was going to be a shorter chapter originally, but ended up being much longer than anticipated, and it's also the first time a chapter doesn't focus on the Girl of Steel herself, so we'll see how it goes.**

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
****November 25, 06:30 EST**

Connor ducked deftly, a great improvement from when he began training with his cousin, and countered her kick with a punch to her midsection. The hit landed easily, and sent her skidding along the floor, barely standing.

"You've improved" she smirked. He smiled back at her, not replying.

Kara ran at Connor, ready to engage him in another series of attacks, when Batman's deep voice cut in over the Cave's systems.

"Supergirl, report for mission briefing."

Confused, the blonde reluctantly left her training session with Connor and moved to the ops area, where Batman's face greeted her on a large holographic screen. Beside his face, an image of a strange and most likely alien satellite near the moon appeared.

"Supergirl, approximately one hour ago, Justice League satellites picked up this image of an alien device orbiting the Earth's moon. We want _you _investigate, and report back to the League with your findings."

Kara raised one brow at the request "you want me to go off-world, to the moon, now?" She deadpanned.

"Correct, and the sooner, the better."

"Well, why can't the League deal with this" she complained.

"The Justice League is currently occupied with other issues."

"But it's thanksgiving!" She cried.

"You and I both know you don't celebrate Earth holidays for the sentimentality."

"But, what if I have my own issues to deal with, regarding university?" She was grasping at straws by this point.

"We also know you don't exactly _need _to go to school."

Groaning loud, Kara shuffled over to the Cave's exit, muttering something about taking as long as possible on the task.

**The Watchtower  
****November 25, 06:54 UTC**

Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman stood in a line together, looking out to the vast empty space before them.

"Times like these" Diana spoke "one feels the very weight of the world upon us."

Behind them, Aquaman entered "everyone is here."

They made their way to the Justice League's central meeting hall, where the whole League stood around a long 'U' shaped table, awaiting the three chief Leaguers to enter.

"Our agenda is clear" Aquaman spoke to the room once all were sealed within "what's at stake, should _not _be underestimated."

"The decisions we make today will reverberate for years to come" Superman added.

"_And _influence whether or not the world continues to put itms trust in the Justice League" Wonder Woman added.

"Please, take your seats" Batman requested "we have work to do."

The collective League sat down in designated seats around the table.

Martian Manhunter immediately stood from his spot "another expansion of the League could generate another escalation of hostilities from our enemies" he warned "no one needs, or wants, another Injustice League."

"Point taken" Superman spoke "but the option remains to vote no on all candidates. So, I nominate Icon for League membership." A holographic image appeared of a large dark skinned man, built as solid as Superman himself, with a costume vaguely reminiscent of the Man of Steel's.

"Why?" Green Arrow chuckled "cause you suspect Icon might be Kryptonian like you did with Captain Marvel?"

"You thought _I _was Kryptonian?" The Captain grinned "cool!"

Wonder Woman laid a hand on Superman's arm "Icon interests me also, as does his protege, Rocket" Icon was replaced with an image of a smaller, thinner girl, about Aqualad's age, wearing a unique harness, and headgear "Athena knows the League could use more female members" she smirked over her her fellow female Leaguers.

"Agreed" "here here" Black Canary and Hawkwoman cheered, followed by a strange look from Captain Marvel.

"I nominate The Atom for League membership" Batman announced. The image changed to a tiny man in a red and blue jumpsuit.

"Seriously? The Atom? How useful could he _be _at that size?" Marvel smiled in amusement.

"It's the size that _makes _him useful" Batman glared.

"Absolutely" Flash agreed "still, we could always use more raw power, and Earth has a third Green Lantern, Guy Gardener." He changed the image over to a larger man in a green vest, with one of the famous power rings on his finger.

"No" both present Lanterns chorused.

"But we could really-"

"No!"

"What about Blue Devil?" Hal suggested, and changed the hologram to a man with blue skin, and furry sideburns, as well as two large yellow horns protruding from his head, and a large pitchfork in his hands "his unique powers could be useful"

"Well if we're considering Blue Devil, then I nominate Red Arrow" Ollie once more changed the image to his former protege "Roy has more experience, and he's no kid anymore, he's eighteen, a Legal adult. He's ready."

"Is he?" Aquaman argued "Red Arrow had been uncooperative _and_ disrespectful. If we reward that behaviour, what message does that send to rest of the team?"

"That's in the past, he's been considerably more helpful now, just ask the team themselves" Ollie tried to defend "heck, we may as well induct the whole team."

"No" Superman said "Red Arrow may be eighteen, and Supergirl twenty, but the rest of the team is too young. We're _not _inducting children into the League."

Captain Marvel began to nervously pull on his collar.

"That seems myopic" Doctor Fate criticised. An image of Supergirl and Kid Flash standing side by side appeared "I have been one with Kid Flash _and _Supergirl. _Both _are ready."

"And what of Zatanna?" Wonder Woman switched to the girl in question.

"Absolutely not!" Fate growled.

"That sounded almost protective Doctor" Diana smiled "at least we know Zatara is still in that helmet somewhere."

"Why _is _Doctor Fate a member?" Captain Marvel asked, standing up "_you _coerced Zatara into giving up his _life _to you, or else lose his _daughter _instead, not cool!"

"Should such behaviour be condoned?" Red Tornado asked, switching the image to Doctor Fate himself.

"Zatara desires Doctor Fate remain with the League" Fate told them.

"Oh please" Green Arrow frowned.

"It is true, Zatara's trust in Nabu is... measured. He desired the League to maintain a close watch on us."

"In any case, I also nominate Plastic Man" Batman told the League, changing the image to that of a tall thin man in a goofy looking unitard, with a bright grin.

Captain Marvel attempted to smother his giggles.

"I don't know, the guys got a pretty substantial criminal record" Flash expressed his doubts.

Once again, Marvel attempted to stifle his laughter, but was unsuccessful, and burst out into chuckles "sorry, sorry" he apologised "th-the guy just cracks me up."

Flashed sighed "maybe it we time we all talked about the elephant in the room" the image changed to Marvel "should Captain Marvel stay a member, now that we know he'e only ten years old?"

"He does possess an adult body, and the wisdom of Solomon" Tornado supplied.

"Wisdom, does _not _equal maturity" Aquaman argued.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Marvel cried.

"Then Billy, maybe you should leave" Black Canary smiled patiently "until we've hashed this out."

"No" Batman disagreed "Captain Marvel is a member, and Is entitled to participate until, or unless, he is voted out."

"It's not just his age" Wonder Woman interrupted "it's the fact that he lied about it"

"I didn't _lie_, exactly, I just left out the part about being a kid" he smiled sheepishly.

"A lie of omission is still a lie" Diana didn't smile back "you kept an important secret from us, no one in the League knew the truth."

"I did" Batman revealed.

"I shouldn't be surprised" Diana bit back "since you indoctrinated Robin into crime fighting at the ripe old age of nine." The central image changed to the Boy Wonder.

"Robin _needed_ to help bring the men who murdered his family to justice" said Batman.

"So he could turn out like you?" Wonder Woman glared.

"So that he wouldn't"

"Okay, ignoring the sudden onset of drama" Green Arrow returned the image to Red Arrow "what about Roy? He's still old enough, and I've worked with him, I know his skills" the League didn't answer, unsure of what to say.

"You seem to haves reached consensus is a suitable minimum age for joining the League" Manhunter stood up, and switched the image once more to M'gann "but what of Miss Martian? Though she is a biological adolescent by Martian standards, she was born forty-eight Earth years ago."

"So what is the deciding factor?" Red Tornado asked "chronology, or biology? Take Superboy, the image changed again.

"Exactly" Black Canary agreed "he's less than a year old, does he have to wait seventeen more to stand beside us?" Superman looked away.

"Is that all?" Batman asked the rest of the table.

Breathing deep, Black Canary finally spoke up "actually, _I _have a nominee" she typed into the holographic keypad before her, and an image of Supergirl opened in front of everyone.

Almost immediately, Superman frowned "no, absolutely not" he shook his head.

"And _why _not?" Canary glared, eager to defend her case "she's old enough to join, both chronologically _and _biologically."

"Despite Supergirl's age and abilities, she still remains inexperienced, having only been on the planet for a few years" Batman reasoned.

"But I've been working with her, _training _her. I _know _she's ready, and perfectly capable to join the League" Dinah justified.

"However, if past events are of any indication, it would seem Supergirl may be too _reckless_ to join" J'onn weighed in.

"That works two ways though" Ollie supplied "it also means she may be willing to lay it all on the line for the greater good."

"And in terms of skill, she's received training in more forms of combat, to higher levels of mastery, than any of us" Wonder Woman agreed.

"I still don't think it's a good idea" Hal spoke up "she's _way _too emotionally unstable, it could backfire on us."

"I reiterate my earlier statement" said Fate "Supergirl was a previous host of the helmet, and does indeed possess great ability, worthy of the Justice League."

"Besides, didn't you trust her with a solo League mission, investigating that satellite on the moon today?" Billy asked Batman.

Batman didn't answer. Instead he stood up, and Superman and Wonder Woman followed, before moving to the opposite end of the table.

"No other ideas?" Superman prompted "then here are our candidates for new, or continued membership" holographic images of each person nominated or discussed by the League appeared around the room.

"We've debated origin, gender, size, experience, age temperament, and background, but, what is the fundamental criterion for membership?"

"When all is said and done, the question must be" Wonder Woman continued "whom do we trust? Trust to fight beside us? Trust to have our backs? Trust to uphold the high standards and ideals of the Justice League?"

"Time to vote."

A short while passed, as the votes were counted, and the final results announced.

"All those on favour of ratifying the results?" Batman asked, and the present Leaguers chorused "aye."

"All opposed?" Silence followed "then we are adjourned."

**[Undisclosed Location]  
****November 25, 11:30 UTC**

"So, how is it?" A man asked

"The project is maturing steadily, and should be ready to release within the next few years" his companion, simply named 'Hamilton' replied.

"Good, we wouldn't want it to fail as drastically as our _previous _experiments."

"Those were different, they used far more unstable components. And besides, you didn't have _me._"

"Getting a little confident, are we?"

"Genius deserves it's guilty pleasures."

"I have good news, gentlemen" a new voice announced.

"Yes?"

"I managed to instigate a... distraction inside of the labs, and was able to have our project moved in the confusion for further development in a safer environment, until, of course, such time as we can return it."

"Good, where is it now?" The first voice asked.

"Safe, that is all you need to know" the third replied.

"And you expect me to just allow you to hide away _my _masterpiece, without telling me _where?" _Hamilton cried.

"Be calm my friend, I assure you, your project is in only the _safest_ of hands, and will be returned to you in due time."

"And until then?"

"Just remain patient, and remember, always look to the light."

* * *

**A/N Drama! Who could these mysterious men be? What project are they discussing? What have the League decided in regards to our favourite blonde Kryptonian? Why am I asking stupid questions when the answers are all very clear? Find out, whenever the heck the next chapter or two come out.**


	23. Questions

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
****December 11, 21:30 EST**

"Recognised: Batman 0-2, Martian Manhunter 0-7, Green Arrow 0-8"

The three Justice League men entered to the sound of loud grunts, and cheering. Right in the middle of the ops area, where mission briefing were held, Kara Zor-El and Roy Harper, as both were in civvies, were busy playing a _very _intense game of Holo-Hockey, while the rest of the team watched on.

While it was great to see the team cut loose and have fun, especially Roy, they were there for a reason.

Batman interrupted the game by closing the table's program, and all turned to him, groaning audibly.

"C'mon, Roy was _just _about to beat her!" Wally cried.

"What? No! Kara had that in the bag" Artemis argued.

"While I'm _sure _that game was very important to you, we have a mission that takes precedence" Batman interrupted.

"Sweet, where're we going?" Kid grinned happily, instantly forgetting his previous anger. Green Arrow looked to the other Leaguers nervously, who nodded, suggesting he would break the news to them.

"Actually, this mission _isn't _for you, or any of the... 'Ex-sidekicks'."

Robin, Wally and Kara all protested aloud, while Roy and Kaldur looked at the Leaguers icily, but it was clear their minds were made, and over half an hour later, the rest of the team had left for their mission.

"So... What do _we_ do instead?" Robin asked.

"Uh... I have an idea, kinda" Kara spoke up "we could, maybe, go on patrol?" They didn't answer her. "I mean, I _know_ Superman is busy, I don't know, somewhere on the other side of the planet, so we could spend the night patrolling Metropolis" they didn't look convinced though "hey, it's better than waiting around here, right?"

"Alright, I'm in" Wally agreed.

"Me too" Robin smiled.

Roy and Kaldur looked at each other "sure, why not" the former spoke for both.

**Metropolis  
****December 11, 22:05 EST**

"Recognised: Red Arrow B0-7"

The last boy exited the old, decrepit phone booth, into the alleyway.

"So, where first?" Robin asked Supergirl.

"Well-" she looked up appraisingly "-we'd get a better idea where to start from up there" not waiting for a reply, the girl shot to the sky, and landed on the roof above them. Behind her, Red Arrow and Robin soon followed using their grapple hooks, and Aqualad came next, leaping up with his immense strength. Finally, Kid Flash made it up last, having to sprint up the building's fire escape.

Looking around, the boys noticed they were still surrounded by larger buildings "I've never visited Metropolis before, where are we?" Aqualad asked.

"Near the middle of the city. The park is that way-" she pointed to the north "-just over the river. On this side of it is the Central Business District, Wayne Tech, Lex Corp, Star Labs, the big names" she spun around and faced the south, "mainly housing this way, so we should head north, we're more likely to find something that way."

To demonstrate, Kara grabbed Aqualad by his upper arm, and flew them both up to a slightly higher roof to their forward right. Following, the others used their own grapples, or held onto one-another, and swung over themselves.

"See, easy" she shrugged.

They continued in much the same fashion, moving across the rooftops, or at least any high area they could reach without much difficulty, until the made it to the lake that split them off from the more retail side of Metropolis.

"Okay, we'll stop here for now" Kara decided, and stepped over to the roof's edge, listening out for anything. Behind, Robin did the same using his high-tech gloves, until both caught onto something.

Robin had picked up on a police frequency, calling for help in a bank robbery, while Supergirl heard the sirens.

"Bank robbery?" Arrow looked surprised "that's bold, especially in Metropolis" he noted.

"Yeah, but with Superman out of town, news teams would be scrambling to follow him, and that means the whole city knows he's absent."

"Well what about you?" Kid asked her "don't they worry _you'll_ do something?"

She shrugged "people sometimes disregard me, but it's okay, makes working as part of a 'covert ops team' much easier" she reassured them at their concerned gazes "but lets go, that robbery won't solve itself."

**Metropolis  
****December 12, 01:00 EST**

Standing around outside, the five listened as a police captain explained the situation. It was fairly standard, five to seven armed goons, and a few hostages. They could visibly see two keeping watch near the front of the bank, one had been keeping radio contact, and the rest were likely either raiding the safes, or keeping hostages subdued.

The team agreed to approach the situation in three. Supergirl would go in through the front doors, keeping her distance and moving slowly.

Robin and Red Arrow quickly separated from the rest to go in via the upper areas, and Aqualad and Kid would wait behind for their cue to enter.

The blonde girl stepped past the semi circle of police cruisers and officers, noticing the two front guards jump to attention, training their weapons on her.

Ignoring the fact that their threatening actions were moot, she raised her hands slowly, just to keep up appearances. Stepping forward slowly, the woman made it to the front doors of the bank, and pushed them open, stepping inside.

In the middle of the room, two more men stood over the cowering hostages, and a third held a radio to his head.

"Not one more step" he yelled, aiming his own rifle at her "we aren't screwing around here" clearly he was smarter than his associates, because he then moved to point the rifle at a hostage.

"Stay calm, I'm not going to attack" she said, slowly and evenly "we don't want any innocent people hurt, do we?"

"No, we don't, _I _don't, but if the situation comes to it" the man held his radio to his ear again "B, F, get back up here" he ordered. Two more men stepped into the room, duffles slung over their backs.

Behind them all, Supergirl saw a vent cover slowly slip away from it's position, and an optic cable be fed through the wide gap it left.

"Let's talk first then, prevent the situation from coming to that" the blonde offered.

"D, G, keep your eyes out front" the leader nodded the men behind her, rookie mistake "the let's talk."

"Okay, good" Supergirl nodded "now we both wan't everybody to walk out of this bank unharmed, so I propose we... forget it" abandoning her diplomatic cover, she surged forward for one goon, grabbing him by the shirt, and throwing him up into the roof.

Behind, Robin dropped down and threw a birdarang into the hand of the leader, knocking his gun away from the hostages, and Arrow fired what was apparently a taser-arrow at another man, leaving him convulsing on the ground.

A red and yellow blur sped in, past the man named 'D' and snatched his gun away, before speeding back past, and again, and again, each time hitting him in the gut of head, until D fell to the ground.

A stream of water also shot in, wrapping around G's own weapon, and pulling it out of his hands. Aqualad ran into the bank, and smacked G halfway across the room with a water-hammer.

Dropping from where he was thrown, Kara grabbed the man she hit first once more, and kicked him away, out a front window.

Robin was busy trading blows with the leader of the criminal group, who was surprisingly well matched against the Boy Wonder, while Red Arrow had taken on another.

A bullet flew past Supergirl's head, and hit the wall behind, leaving a large chip in the stone. She turned to her would-be-attacker, and raised an eyebrow.

"Did you _really _think that would hurt?"

"No, but this will" a distorted voice replied. Suddenly, the entire room filled with a foul screeching, the noise just about tearing through even Supergirl's eardrums. It's victim, the man who attempted to shoot Supergirl, was sent flying across the way, and landed head first into a wall. He would survive, but would also have a killer headache later.

Turning to the source of the screech, Supergirl found none other than her good-rival-friend, Silver Banshee.

Kara decided to sell this, if not for humour, then to gauge her other friend's judgement. She glared openly at the intruder "what are _you _doing here?" She growled.

Her four companions each finished their own opponents, and trained their sights on the Banshee, Red Arrow doing so with his bow too.

"What I usually do, cleaning _your _mess" the other woman replied.

"Seriously though, who are you, and why are you here?" Roy pulled his bowstring tighter.

"Woah, Red, we're not being _serious_" Kara walked over to the Banshee "this is Silver Banshee" she introduced "a... friend."

"Right, friend" KF seemed unconvinced.

"Okay, rival-friend, we sort of compete when fighting together" Kara explained "plus, she picks up the slack in Metropolis when neither Superman nor I are around. Basically, she's an ally"

"Well, what was up with that Canary Cry?" Robin asked.

"It's _not _a 'Canary Cry'" Banshee glared.

"Then what do _you _call it?" Kid asked.

"A Death Wail"

"And you can't warn us next time you use this 'Death Wail'?" Evidently, Red Arrow wasn't happy with Kara's new friend. None of them were, really.

"If I thought I would hurt any of you, I wouldn't have done it" Banshee reasoned.

"Okay, I can see this wasn't the best of introductions, but let's start over" Kara decided "guys, this is Silver Banshee, a friend, and someone we can _trust"_ they still looked fairly wary.

"What _are _you doing here, anyway?" The blonde asked.

"I was tracking this guy down" she answered, walking over to the the downed leader "he's more than an average criminal, and I think he may have connections to Intergang"

"Intergang? This seems a little... cliché to be their work" Kara frowned.

"Exactly, so why?"

The six of them tied up the unconscious men, and escorted the civilians back out of the bank, where a loud applause met them.

"Let's split up, and meet back on top if Lex Corp" Kara decided.

Minutes later, that's exactly what they did, with the team arriving on the Lex Corp tower's roof, finding Silver Banshee waiting, the leader from earlier tied up and gagged, kneeling by her side.

"What is this?" Arrow growled.

"An interrogation" Banshee replied, and squatted to smack the man in the face a few time, waking him up. The man stirred to life, and his face took on a vile scowl when he registers who his captors were. Banshee then gripped the tape over his mouth, and ripped it off.

"We can't do this, we should take him to the police" Robin protested.

"Like it or not, this is happening. If you want to know what Intergang is up to, then you have to deal with it."

"It's your city" the boys looked at Kara. None of them were comfortable with this, but the blonde knew that sometimes, you had to sacrifice moral code "do it."

"Hey, you're not getting _me _to talk" the man immediately protested.

"I don't want you to talk" Banshee retorted. She grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him over to the edge of the building. Throwing him back down, she instead gripped his leg, and hefted the man up off the ground, dangling him upside down, over the tower's edge, only the distant pavement below him "I want you to scream."

And that's exactly what he did. Looking down at the earth below, the man turned into a wailing child, screaming and begging for mercy. In one swift swing, Banshee whipped the man around and skidding back onto the relative safety of the roof.

Banshee stalked back over to him, and placed a foot on his face, pushing down into the ground. "What connection do you have with intergang?"

"I said-" he croaked out "-I'm not talking!"

"Not what I asked" Banshee grabbed him by the foot again, and began to drag the once more whimpering mess to the roof's edge. She ignored his pleas for mercy, and dangled the man back over the edge.

"Tell me what Intergang is up to, now"

"Please, please, please, please, I'll do anything, please, I swear, don't do it" he yelled.

Grunting, Banshee pulled him back onto the rooftop. "Tell me now."

"Okay, okay" he swallowed "My boys were told to rob the bank, I don't know, as a distraction?"

"What do you mean, a distraction?" Supergirl now asked.

"I-I don't know, they said they wanted people to see us do it, to be loud, that's it though."

"What is Intergang up to?" Banshee asked again.

"I don't know, they just said to make noise, that's it, I promise."

"...Where do we go from here?" Kid asked the rest.

Banshee hefted the man up once more, "where are they?"

"Uh, th-they" he began stuttering profusely "they met up with us in the old Star Labs building, the one outside the city, from before they moved in."

"Good" Banshee then threw the man out over the edge of the building, and let go, allowing him to freely fall to the ground. Out of reflex, Arrow and Robin each threw a tether, which wrapped around the man's feet and stopped his descent short.

After securing the other ends to the roof somehow, all rounded on Banshee, who was looking out towards the city outskirts.

"What the hell was that!?" Arrow roared.

"You almost killed him!" Aqualad agreed.

Banshee ignored them, and turned to Kara "I know you wan't to look into this as well, we can meet up outside the building."

Kara nodded, and turned her back on Banshee, returning to her teammates who were glaring dagger at her.

"I don't care if you guys want in, but I'm sticking with Banshee" she told them.

"You really trust her? After that?" Arrow asked incredulously.

"I know it didn't look like it, and I know you don't trust her, but Banshee wouldn't have thrown him unless she knew he wouldn't die somehow. Like I said, I'm going through with this, but _you _don't have to."

Thirty minutes later, all five made it to the outside of an old building outside of Metropolis. While dust and cobwebs had taken over, a sign in front showed that the property had recently been purchased.

Silver Banshee was waiting for them patiently. "I see your whole team followed."

"As long as you don't pull anymore stunts like before, we're on the same page" Arrow told her.

"I've already taken a look inside, there isn't anything suspicious about the place" Banshee told them.

"Still, it's worth a second investigation" Kara shrugged "stealth mode" her, Kid Flash and Aqualad all activated the switches on their suits, and the five entered.

Banshee hadn't lied, it was clear nobody used the building anymore, as dust lay undisturbed on most surfaces. X-ray vision hadn't yielded much either, only empty space.

"Take a look at this" Kid called. He was kneeling by an elevator towards the back, pointing to the ground. Upon closer look, faint footprints could be made out in the thin layer of dust.

"And this elevator is identical to the one in Cadmus" Robin told them, hologram projecting from his glove.

"If that's the case" Aqualad pried apart the elevator doors, and as suspected, the shaft could be seen going down far below the ground.

Either firing grappling lines or flying, the six descended through the elevator shaft. Although similar to the one in Cadmus, this didn't have any other places to stop at, until the they reached the very bottom. Below them, the elevator sat dormant, and light seeped into the shaft from a tiny gap between the elevator, and the room it opened to.

Arrow noticed an emergency escape hatch below them, and slowly pulled it open. The six dropped down into the elevator, and stepped out of it, into the room below.

It wasn't a large room, but lining the walls were empty pods, identical to that which had held Superboy when they broke him out of Cadmus. A set of control panels sat in the room's centre, surrounding a space that had clearly held something else a some point.

"What _is _this?" Supergirl asked nobody in particular.

"Something _you _shouldn't be seeing" a familiar voice grunted from behind.

Spinning around on the spot, the team came face to face with the very man they had interrogated to find this place.

"You, what are-" was interrupted when the man grabbed the bottom of his face, and tugged. In a way that could only be described as both horrifying and intriguing, he tore his own face off, revealing a white, metal head beneath. "Wait, you're a robot!?" Kid exclaimed.

"And android, yes" it nodded. On it's forehead, a playing card spade with a capital A was painted.

"An android... you seemed pretty human when we interrogated you earlier" Supergirl frowned.

"Well, like I said, my purpose was to distract _you _long enough for my masters to leave the city, a feat I believe I managed quite successfully."

"Except, you led us directly to your secret base" Robin raised a brow.

"An... Unforeseen consequence. I had hoped to stop you first, but I clearly wasn't quick enough."

"And what are we supposed to call you?" Banshee grunted.

"My creator refereed to me as Ace, hence the icon" he thumbed the spade on his head "but enough of this, I came here to kill you, and that's what I'll be doing."

"On your own?"

"Not quite. Ladies, I believe you are acquainted with my brother here." From behind them, a frighteningly familiar man stepped into the light "Bounty" Kara and Banshee glared.

"Nice of you to visit girlie" the formerly dead android chuckled "you still owe me a dead body."

"There's two of them, and six of us, we should be able to take them, right?" Kid asked.

"Yeah, sure" Kara didn't even convince herself.

In one swift motion, Ace had leapt at Kid Flash, easily dodging projectiles from both Robin and Red Arrow, and kneed the speedster in his gut, before smashing an elbow on Kid's head.

Bounty did the same, only he shoved past Banshee and Aqualad, making sure to clothesline them as he went, to directly grab Supergirl by the throat, and pin her to a wall.

Supergirl threw a knee at Bounty's gut, but he caught it with his free hand, and tightened his grip around her neck using the other "kinda always wondered, how long would it take to strangle the life out of Supergirl?"

Ace grabbed Kid by the back of his collar, and used one hand to swing the boy around a few times. Letting go, Kid was sent careening towards Robin, and upon impact, sent both boys skidding across the floor in a heap.

Black began to dot the edges of Kara's vision, as Bounty's hand squeezed down on her throat. Behind, Aqualad stood up from his place on the ground, and wrapped a watery whip around Bounty's free arm. He pulled back as far as her could, slowly forcing Bounty to abandon his grip on the Kryptonian, and refocus. The android threw Kara to one side, and she grabbed her throat, coughing and sputtering.

Ace was having a surprisingly harder time against Roy. The archer was stuck on the defensive, but had so far managed to block most of Ace's blows, and the few which connected with their targets, he managed to ignore without dropping his guard.

Getting back to their feet, Robin and Kid Flash rushed Ace, hoping that the android couldn't focus on three opponents at once. They were mistaken, and as soon as the two engaged him, Ace began defending against their attacks whilst remaining on the offence against Red Arrow, his arms and body moving at inhuman speeds.

Aqualad was having similar issues, with both Supergirl and Silver Banshee still recovering from Bounty's initial attacks. He lunged forward with one water-sword, and slashed a downward arc using the other. While Bounty was busy deflecting the first blow to the side, Aqualad's second attack managed to make a clean cut through the android's clothing, but only scratch the metallic surface deep underneath.

Tiring of the trio of attackers, Ace dropped to the ground as one of Red Arrow's counterattacks moved toward him. The blow sailed cleanly over Ace's low form, and instead connected with Kid's face. The speedster fell backward, and Arrow recoiled at the shock of accidentally hitting his friend. Ace stood up, and threw a leg backwards, kicking Robin in the gut. The boy crumpled from the blow, and Ace turned his attention back to the eldest boy.

Grunting with annoyance, Bounty tore off the slashed clothing on his upper body, revealing a greyish silver body, bolts and plates were visible, and the line between his contrasting facial colouring could be seen along his upper chest. Besetting himself back onto the Atlantean, Bounty blocked a swipe from one water-sword, and grabbed the hand wielding it.

Aqualad swung with the other, which Bounty caught, leaving both opponents without the use of their hands. Bounty then threw his head into Aqualad's, forcing him to stumble backwards a few steps. Recovering from the shock, Aqualad barely had time to jump out of the way as Bounty threw a leg wildly in the Atlanean's direction.

Ace made to grab Roy by the shirt, but the archer jumped back. Flailing for some kind of grip, the android got a hold on the strap of his quiver, running over his torso. Ace pulled back on it, and the strap broke, allowing Ace to pull it off Roy, and throw it to the other side of the room.

Robin and Kid had recovered behind, and all three boys shared a look of frustration.

"How do we beat this guy?" Rob asked.

"You _can't _beat me kids, I was _built _to be better!" Ace gloated.

"Hello, Wally!" The Redhead face-palmed, "he was _built_ to be better, and what can beat an android?" He smirked.

"An EMP!" Robin agreed.

Ace glared at the two after this revelation, until Arrow placed the satisfied grin back on.

"That's great Kid, but my EMP arrows are all on the other side of the room-" "-and I don't have any either" Robin finished.

Kid immediately took off towards Roy's discarded quiver, but was stopped by Ace's superior reflexes, who threw an arm out without moving, and catching him by the back of his suit. Kid lurched backwards, and was hit by a spinning kick to his midsection.

Robin joined the fray once more, leaping for Ace, hoping to catch the android off guard while he was preoccupied with Kid. The boy had no such luck however, as Ace cleanly stepped to the side, out of Robin's trajectory, and uppercut the Boy Wonder.

Robin landed on the ground with a thud, but both bruised boys stood back up, and feebly began moving towards Ace again. Without exuding any effort, Ace grabbed Kid by the throat, and began pummelling his torso. Each punch knocked the wind out of the redhead over and over, allowing him only a short reprieve as her was thrown down so Ace could refocus on Robin.

The android repeated the same steps with the shorter male, and held his bruised face up to his own. Robin hung limply from the android hand, and struggled to meet his eyes.

"What purpose do you think you serve, allowing me to break you like this?" Ace demanded.

Robin let out a weak, but clear chuckle "a distraction."

Realising their ploy, Ace dropped the boy and turned around, finding Red Arrow was aiming an arrow directly at the android. Not speaking a word, and narrowing his eyes to slits, Roy loosed the arrow, which penetrated Ace's chest deep, before detonating. Electricity surged through the android, who collapsed, defeated at last at last.

Robin stood back up, and limed over to the body, he began to fiddle with Ace's head, presumably shutting him down forever.

On the other side of the room, Bounty had unsheathed a knife from his pants, and spun it in his hand. Aqualad and Bounty circled each other slowly. Out of nowhere, Banshee jumped at the android, hoping to take him of guard. Somehow anticipating the action, Bounty threw his free hand out, and caught Banshee midair by the neck. He then darted forward, swept Aqualad's legs out from under him, and stomped on his chest, pushing down. Aqualad growled in pain, and tried to futilely push back on the android's foot, but it wouldn't budge.

Rushing to help her friend, Kara jumped at Bounty, who swatted the girl away easily. As she was thrown to the side, Bounty reached out, and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her in for another kick to the ribs, and another, and several, more, until she dropped to the ground, clutching her no doubt heavily bruised chest.

As Bounty held Banshee up in the air, movement by hid hand caught Kara's eye. His hand had shifted away from it's normal position, and a long, thick blade took it's place.

"Been waiting to do this for a while" Bounty stabbed viciously at Banshee, but was stopped short. Kara, still clutching her bruised ribs, and still on one knee, was gripping the arm tight, keeping it away from Banshee.

"Let go of me!" He roared, and swung his other hand, smacking the blonde in her face. He turned on her next, and was about to lung for the girl, when a white hand gripped him by the neck. With a mighty tug, Banshee tore Bounty's head from it's socket, and threw it across the room.

She collapsed to her hands and knees beside Kara who was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Thanks" she panted heavily.

"No problem" the Banshee huffed in reply.

They stood up, and kicked Bounty's body in synchronisation, muttering insults.

Kara grabbed Aqualad by the hand and pulled him to his feet. Turning she stood with Banshee who was still glaring down at Bounty's remains. Robin was kneeling by Ace, scanning his body.

"This doesn't make any sense" he frowned.

"What is it?" Aqualad asked.

"This hardware, it carries all the signatures of T. 's equipment, but that's impossible, he's still comatose inside Belle Reve last I heard."

"What about the software?" Supergirl asked, looking down at the scans.

"That's the thing, the software is almost identical to stuff built by-" "-Professor Ivo" Kara finished for him.

"Ivo, what's Ivo doing with Morrow's tech?" Kid asked them.

"More importantly, what do they have to do with Cadmus and Intergang?" Aqualad continued.

"And why are they trying to kill me?" Supergirl asked the room.

"Silver Banshee" Aqualad called. The girl, who had been standing apart from the team, looked up to him "thank you. While I still do not agree with your methods, you helped us, despite our clear disapproval" she acknowledged him with a simple nod.


	24. Performance

**A/N If anybody has been reading since I first uploaded this story, you'll likely notice that I've removed a whole subplot from earlier in the story, and that decision plays into this chapter as well. If you haven't been reading since then, then disregard this.**

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
****December 21, 12:32 EST**

"Advanced weapons tech has been stolen at manufacturing plants throughout Europe" Robin explained to the present teammates, showing the specific locations at various points on a holographic map of Europe "and each theft coincides with tour stops made by the Haly Circus. Batman's sending us undercover to catch the thieves."

"This clown car have room for one more?" Red Arrow asked, walking over.

"Uh, w-we've got this covered" Robin assured him.

Arrow bent over to whisper in Robin's ear. A measure that would work on Artemis and M'gann, but Connor and Kara could still easily hear him.

"_You've _got the _mission _covered, but whose covering the three potential mole suspects you're bringing along?" The words intrigued Kara, she could remember the time Aqualad had fallen out of favour for lying to the whole team, and honestly still felt guilty for being so harsh on him, so this was strange.

**Bruges  
****December 22, 20:08 CET**

Kara, undercover as Daisy Danger, stood silently beside Connor, AKA Dean Danger. Above, Robin and M'gann, acting under the names Dan and Dawn Danger waited on the trapeze stands for their cue, and to either side, Artemis and Roy waited as Dane and Diane Danger. All six were in matching white and red costumes, complete with masks over their eyes.

The crowd inside of the large tent cheered and clapped in excitement for the show, as the ringmaster, Haly, began.

"Dames en heren! Mesdames et messieurs! Ladies and gentlemen-" cue pyrotechnics "-welcome to the Haly International Travelling Circus!" The crowd screamed excitedly "where the world of the centre-ring, is _your _oyster" he lifted an arm and pointed upwards "and these are out latest pearls-" cue spotlights on Dan and Dawn "-the Daring Dangers!"

"Dan Danger-" Robin jumped off his scaffold, beginning the trapeze act -Dawn Danger-" M'gann spun flew past him, catching the rod he had let go of "-Diane Danger-" to the side, Artemis loaded three arrows on her bow "-Dane Danger-" Roy did the same "-Daisy Danger-" Kara began throwing large, heavy barrels up to the sky "-and, Dean Danger" and Connor did the same.

The barrels spun just right for Dan and Dawn to slip through them unharmed, while Dane and Diane loosed their arrows, the two acrobats spinning and bending around them like fluid.

"You will never see a trapeze act like this folks! And all performed, without a net!"

High above, Dan leapt off his handlebar, and flipped in the air, straightening out just as Dawn swung over him. As he stretched his arms out to grabs the girl's, it became all too obvious that he had mistimed the trick, and missed her hands.

_"Robin!" _M'gann cried out in their heads.

The crowd screamed as he plummeted towards the ground _"don't blow our cover!" _Robin ordered.

_"But saving your life's okay?" _Connor sarcasticly asked as Kara thre another barrel at Robin.

The boy landed on t, and rode the barrel as it continued to shoot upwards, where M'gann attempted to grab his hand again.

She was just too high however, but a short, subtle burst of telekinesis had him grabbing onto her.

_"What did I just say?" _Robin demanded, exasperated.

_"The crowd couldn't see me use telekinesis from below" _M'gann justified _"besides, I've been using it all night, i'm not exactly the acrobat you are."_

_"Yeah, neither am I right now. I think I caught that 24 hour bug that's been going around the circus"_ he told them _"but, the show must go on."_

They continued the act for a short while, Robin taking it easy up on the trapeze, and all seemed to go off without a hitch. It ended with M'gann and Robin performing a trick that had them landing on the platform in the centre of the ten on the ground. Roy and Artemis on either side of them, and Connor and Kara standing beside either of _them._

"Put your hands together for... The Daring Dangers!" The crowd cheered and applauded for them, but Robin was clearly sick, sweating profusely.

_"Didn't think you'd make it through" _M'gann admitted.

_"Neither did I" _Robin, too, admitted _"help me backstage."_

They walked back out of the centre-ring, a tightrope walking clown performing above them, and M'gann keeping Robin supported.

"Ray, have you seen my other torch?" A red-skinned man with large horns asked.

A man who was rummaging through a box, large and blonde, looked up at him "yeah, you dropped it outside the train" Ray tossed the torch back to him.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver"

"Break a leg" Ray directed the other man out into the bigtop, rubbing his back as he left.

Haly returned to the backstage after announcing the next act, coming face-to-face with another acrobatic act, to men, twins, who were probably from South America.

"Haly, what's the deal? Giving the top-slot to those Danger kids" he held an arm out to the team "that's _our _slot" his brother piped up.

"_Was _your slot, until you missed that performance in Paris" Haly corrected.

"Carlo was sick! He's better now!" The first brother justified "plus those dangers are a sham" Carlo accused "they say they're brothers and sisters, they don't even look alike!"

"Ah, you just don't like competition" Haly pushed past, before coming face to face with another obstacle.

"For crying out loud, not you again! We're in the middle of a show!" Haly complained.

"Then we'll talk after" the large, suited man before him glared "but we _will _talk. Another city last week, another tech firm robbed, another stop on _your _tour. If I prove you're responsible I _will _shut you down."

"I've got three minutes to gather props and get back to the centre-ring" Haly walked past the agent, who then walked over to the 'Dangers'.

"Faraday, Interpol, new act?" He flashed his i.d.

"Yeah, just joined the tour" Robin confirmed.

"That probably clears you, but don't get too comfortable, Haly's going down for this."

Later that night, the team, now in costume, were gathered around series of warehouses on three different vantage points.

_"If Interpol's already on this, why are we bothering" _Superboy grumbled mentally beside Supergirl.

_"Because Batman said, why? You had something better to do?" _Robin snapped back.

_"Boys, calm down, I,don't know where all this team tension is coming from, but it needs to stop" _Kara admonished.

_"How do we know the thieves will hit here?" _Artemis quickly changed the subject.

_"There_ are _more obvious targets" _Red Arrow surprisingly agreed.

_"And Faraday will have them covered, but I analysed the tech already stolen, and the patterns suggest this is the place."_

_"How are you feeling?" _M'gann suddenly asked Robin.

_"Lousy, actually, but I'll manage" _he assured her.

Kara scanned the area for activity, and noticed movement as a silhouette leapt over a fence _"contact, northeast quadrant"_ she announced.

_""Looks like wee know why Carlo missed a performance" _Connor noted.

_"Could be Carlo, could be his brother" _Robin retorted _"keep an open mind, and move in" _he jumped to the ground from his perch, and the others followed. Connor seemed to hang back as Kara flew over.

When he did catch up, the clone smashed into the ground loudly, earning a sharp look from his cousin.

_"Dod you see where he went?" _Robin asked them.

Kara began scanning her surroundings, looking through walls to try spotting their target.

Connor somehow beat her to it through "the warehouse" he announced, glaring at a particular building.

The six heroes sprinted into the warehouse, and silently made their way onto a catwalk above the crates that filled it. Robin cackled as they caught the man pry open a crate, and steal a curious looking device from it.

"Caught red handed" the boy smirked triumphantly "red faced too I'll bet."

"Acrobatics won't get you outta this" Artemis quipped.

The man turned around, and held a torch up to his face. In a fashion identical to one of Haly's acts, the Dragon, he spat a torrent of flames at them which Connor blocked as the rest dove away.

Roy pulled his bow off his back, and looked at the flaming crates "those crates are full of live ammo!" He yelled "move!"

Seconds later, the entire area shook as the warehouse was rocked by a violent explosion from the inside.

Kara broke open a metal door that, along with cover above and beside them, had protected the team from the explosion. Connor stomped forward, ready to break something.

"That guy's dead meat" he growled.

Just as he began running away, Kara hefted a body up into her arms. It was M'gann, and she wasn't doing too well.

"Superboy, stop!" She demanded.

"We _need _to get her out" she held up the martian girl "the fire is _literally_ killing her!"

"He's getting away!" Connor argued.

"And that matters more than Miss Martian!?" The two glared heatedly, until Connor almost snatched the martian, and sprinted away, Kara following.

Hours later, back at the circus, they watched as Faraday interrogated Haly inside the latter's office..

"Another weapons plant is hit, and once again the circus is in town" he stated "I don't believe in coincidences."

"I don't care _what _you believe" Haly argued "my people are _not _responsible. I did a bed check last night, every single member of my troupe was asleep in their bunks.

_"Well, _we _sure weren't" _M'gann noted.

_"And if he's lying about us..." _Artemis didn't need to finish her sentence for the rest to understand.

Later, they met up inside their designated carriage to discuss the case.

_"So _two _thieves, right?" _Artemis confirmed _"the fire-breather, and one of the acrobats."_

_"Dressed in identical clothes" _M'gann continued.

_"Maybe not just two" _Robin suggested _"here's the Madrid security footage"_ he showed a holographic video of a man, in the same outfit as the thief last night, bending some metal bars _"and now Paris" _this one showed the same man again, only walking along power lines.

_"So the strongman and the clown too" _Roy summarised_ "if the entire circus is involved, Haly himself may be the mastermind."_

_"You don't know that" _Robin defended.

_"It'd make sense" _Kara shrugged _"considering he lied before about the bed-check."_

"I told you to keep an open mind!" the boy suddenly yelled at her, standing up and storming out.

Kara sighed "I'll... I'll go talk to him" she stood and followed.

Kara, after a while of walking and asking some of the other circus acts, found Robin standing halfway down the outside of the train. It's walls were lined with posters of former or current acts in the Haly Circus. He was talking with a hand pressed to his ear, and seemed... Off somehow.

As she approached, the boy stopped talking and looked back at a particular poster once more.

"Hey, Rob- uh, Dan" she called.

He looked up at her in surprise "yeah Daisy?"

"I wanted to apologise about earlier, you said to keep an open mind, and I guess I didn't, or something" she shrugged.

He sighed "it's fine I guess, you don't really know much about the full story anyway."

"What full story?"

"Uh... Nothing. Just an old memory."

"... Okay... C'mon, we should get a move on, last show starts soon" he nodded, and began walking back to their cart.

Waiting behind, Kara took a look at the poster he had stopped by. 'The Flying Graysons' it said, with silhouettes of a group of acrobats, mid-air. She noted the information for a later discussion with the boy.

After the last show in Bruges ended, the entire circus began to pack the train up once more. Connor and Kara lifted the heaviest items into the 'Daring Dangers' carriage, while the rest of the team. Around the area, some other acts were lying or sitting around in pain, clearly having contracted the 24 hour bug.

M'gann went to lift a suitcase, but a Ray the Roustabout beat her to it, and grabbed it's handle at the same time as her.

"All aboard, everyone, now!" Haly demanded. At the final call, Kara decided to help the fire-breather pack his things too. Curious, he was perfectly fine before that night.

"You look better" Artemis told Robin later on.

"I feel better" he agreed. Unfortunately, M'gann wasn't so lucky. She was huddled up in one corner, suddenly sick.

"I'm sorry M- Dawn" he frowned "hope you didn't catch it from me."

"I feel so silly" she admitted "who knew a Martian could be vulnerable to a human virus?"

"Uh, H. ?" Said Robin "look, when did you first feel sick?" He asked.

"Just after boarding the train" the Martian told him "it came on suddenly."

"Same with me the other night" Robin told them "I remember Ray rubbed my head for good luck right before we went on."

"Ray? That roustabout?" Connor asked "he touched her before we boarded. Guy must be a walking petrie dish."

"Wait" Kara stood suddenly, commanding their attention "Dan-" she lowered her voice several octaves "-did that thief display _any _kind of acrobatic prowess in the security tapes before Paris?"

Thinking for a moment, Robin shook his head "and the same with fire-breathing before Bruges, and strength before Madrid?" Again Robin told her no "because the Dragon suddenly became sick earlier too, and so did Carlo in Paris apparently" she looked away for a moment "plus, those moves he pulled in the warehouse before it blew up were _very _similar to how I've seen you fight" she looked at the shorter boy.

Signalling for them to follow, she stepped out of the carriage, and was lucky enough to find Haly just beyond.

"Daisy, Dan, you look refreshed" the older man commented.

"Thanks" the boy replied "how long has Ray the Roustabout been in your troupe?" the blonde cut in.

"Picked him up at the start of the European tour, poor lad's down with the same flu as the rest of them" he explained.

"We'll check on him, it's the least we can do" Artemis decided as she, Roy and Connor caught up.

"If you insist" the four eldest teammates walked away.

They entered Ray's carriage to find it dark, and empty. His bed wasn't even touched "guess he wasn't _that _sick" Connor muttered.

"Does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?" Roy asked, gesturing to a box.

"Not on _foreign _tours" Robin admitted.

Kara opened the box "it's emp-" she cut herself off when she noticed the black dust "-no, ash" she swiped at it.

"From the warehouse fire in Bruges" Robin realised.

"Uh, guys?" Artemis called "I found Ray" she held up a limp mask identical to 'Ray's' face.

"Split up, search the whole train" Robin ordered.

The team split up, half moving further up the train, and the rest going further down. Kara stepped out to the link between two carriages, and jumped up to the train's roof, searching for Ray, or whoever he really was, from above. If she was right, then she'd want to keep a _very _close eye out for him.

"Dane, Dean, Diane, Daisy, come in" Robin called through their comms, "we're chasing someone who's stolen Dawn's act, her whole shtick if you catch my drift."

It was definitely who Kara feared it was.

"I got him," Superboy replied "but he's onto me. Exiting the dining cart now. He's gone topside!"

Kara looked over, and noticed the clown jump from the inside of one carriage to it's roof, with Superboy following. Kara flew at the two, just as the clown used M'gann's telekinesis to throw Connor off the train. When the girl ran to the edge to check on him, he wasn't there, and instead ended up back on somehow.

"That won't work on me, clown!" Connor growled. The blonde questioned what he meant, and how he recovered from being thrown off, but stored the information away for later.

"That's not a clown!" she yelled "his name is Parasite, a villain who once stole Superman's powers!"

"As if you kids are who you claim to be, please" Parasite morphed back to his normal, purple form.

"Stay out of his reach!" Robin warned, leaping onto the train beside her "there's no flu going around! the weakness comes when he makes visible contact and feeds off the powers and abilities of others."

"I have been a bit of a glutton today," Parasite smirked, Kara disregarded her cover, and began hovering mid-air slightly. "Chowed down on the skills of nearly every loser in this troupe. But oh my, the pièce de résistance was Dawn Danger, or whatever her real name is. Thought I'd munch on her trapeze skills. Imagine my surprise when she tasted like Martian Manhunter instead, mmm, she made a lovely appetiser but guess who I want for my entrée…" he grinned at the hovering Blonde.

Suddenly, Kara found herself being jerked toward the man. His eyes glowed bright green, and she felt him grab hold of her face tight. "Mhmm! Now that's the full-bodied Kryptonian flavour I love!"

Her body felt weak, and could tell he was trying to absorb any power she could possibly give.

"Everyone, stay whelmed!" Robin ordered "subdue, but keep your distance!" Artemis and Red Arrow readied their bows, but suddenly beams of pure heat shot from Parasite's eyes, disintegrating the weapons

Parasite grinned at his work "you know, I almost never say this, but I'm sated" he dropped Kara, and she collapsed onto the train in a heap "hate to eat and run" he flew into the air, using M'gann's stolen telekinesis to carry the box with him.

Kara watched as Robin attemoted to follow, but was theown away, and almost off the bridge they were going over. The others pulled him back on, and rushed over to check on Kara.

"Are you okay?" M'gann asked, worried.

"Yeah... I'll be fine, but we should go take out Parasite" she tried to stand on her own, but almost immediately collapsed back into the arms of her friends.

"Are you kidding? You're drained, there's no way we can take on Parasite with you like this" Robin ordered her in to rest up, and the rest followed.

Later, the blonde was lying back in their carriage. The others had changed into their usual costumes, but she remained in her Daisy Danger outfit.

"It's not a _complete_ debacle" Robin reassured them, "I picked Parasite's pocket-" he held up a small usb "-I this flash drive."

He connected it to his glove, and looked at the projections in thought

"Looks like Parasite's working for Intergang" this caught the weak blonde's attention, after all, they _had _sent two androids to kill her "everything he's stolen, they're all pieces of something, they're putting together a weapon that generates...

Black holes?"

"Oh, come on! To build that, you need a particle accelerator!" Roy argued.

"Like the Large Boson Collider in Geneva?" Robin gave him a look.

"The circus's next stop!" Roy realised.

"And with my flight, he's got a head-start on us" Kara sighed.

"Sorry" m'gann frowned,

"Not your fault, but this thing could wipe out entire cities, we need to hurry" Robin said.

"_You_ and _I_ need to hurry" Roy corrected him "without powers, the others would hold us back.

"Hey, you're not the only one with a backup bow" Artemis glared.

"And I've _still _got my powers" Connor glared.

"Don't even _think_ about going without me" M'gann smiled.

"I'll get-" Kara attempted to stand, but was stopped by the others.

"_You, _are staying _here_" Robin denied "no offence, but without your powers, you'll only slow us down" Kara glared, but accepted his decision

**Geneva  
****December 23, 23:00 CET**

The train had come to a stop in it's next location, Geneva, and immediately the who weren't sick from Parasite, or asleep from the late hours, set out to pitch the tents, or practice their acts.

Disembarking the train herself, Kara looked around for the ever-present Agent Faraday. She found him leaning on a plain black car, keeping a watchful eye on the troupe.

"Agent Faraday" she called out to the man. He turned to her with a hard look "Is there something you need?" He asked.

"There is" she nodded "I've found you're suspect, but we need to go now if we want to catch him"

"You have? Who?" He started.

"I'll explain on the way, but we need to leave quickly" she moved to the passenger side door

"And what if you're lying to me? To cover for the _real _thief?" He didn't move.

"Because if we _don't _go, Geneva will be eating by a black hole" she glared, hoping to convey her seriousness.

He was silent "you'd better by telling the truth" they both got into the car, and began driving away from the circus.

"So, where is this thief?"

"The Large Boson Collider" she explained "the real suspect is a man named Parasite. He was masquerading as a roustabout named Ray, using his powers to absorb the abilities from other circus acts to pull of the heists."

"And how _do _you know this?"

She decided now would be a good time to come clean, by untying the mask on her face "because he got me too" she explained "Daisy Danger isn't a real person, I'm really Supergirl. My team and I went undercover in the circus to find the thief, and we did, but he's about to unleash a black hole onto Europe."

Without speaking, Faraday unhooked a radio in his car, and ordered for backup at the Geneva Large Boson Collider.

"Do you have any way of suppressing his powers?" She asked. Again remaining silent, he also opened the centre console, which was empty, excluding the inhibitor collar that he activated.

They made it to the Collider, and two more cars met them. Outside the building, some guards were lying unconscious, and a dim orange glow was accompanied by a blazing heat from inside.

The two other agents picked up a pair of fire extinguishers, and the four entered to find the whole building on fire, and Parasite lying unconscious beside the team

Kara watched Roy take the hand of Artemis, who helped him stand up "wow, he deigns to touch the hand of a suspected traitor" she smirked

"Mind open" he assured her "I guess I never really saw you three in the thick of it before. Superboy's a hot-head, but I know I'm not one to talk. You could each have betrayed us here, you didn't, I'm sorry I doubted any of you. There is no mole.

**Mount Justice  
****December 25, 18:00 EST**

"Recognised: Supergirl B0-4"

Kara entered the cave, dressed in her costume, ready for a session of training with Black Canary and the team.

She had been woken up by a _very _enthusiastic Lana, and had been informed it was Christmas Day. Of course, growing issues with the team and other things had taken her mind completely off the holiday, and she hadn't been too interested in it to begin with.

Lana gave her a Christmas present, nothing major, just a brand new camera, as Kara had been expressing her interest in looking at photography as an art form. It had also been relatively easy to find a last minutes gift for the woman who gave her a home, taking a short trip to a jewellery store nearby.

By lunch, Kara was at with Siobhan, silently watching people rushing through the mall for last minute christmas presents. They talked a little bit, and hung out for a few hours, until they finally split up wherein Kara went home to change, give Lana her gift, and make her way to the cave.

Entering the training room, she found Kid Flash and Robin circling each-other, with the rest standing to one side, watching.

Black Canary looked over to her, and made an unreadable face "keep doing what you're doing team, I need to speak with Kara" after a moment, she looked at Connor pointedly "privately" he understood she meant for him to _not_ listen in with his advanced hearing.

The two women left the room, and Canary turned to place a hand on Kara's shoulder.

"Now Kara, what I'm about to ask is a very... big decision for you to make, and it's one that will dictate your entire future, so I'm going to give you a day or two to consider it."

The younger blonde nodded, and leaned in to hear the woman's question.


	25. Usual Suspects

**A/N uh oh, it's the beginning of the end...**

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

**Washington D.C.  
****December 30, 09:00 EST**

Kara paced the main area of the Hall of Justice nervously, her cape whipping from side to side every time she spun around to retrace her steps.

Further into the room, the team watched her in a mixture of shared worry, and slight amusement.

"Kara, are you nervous?" Aqualad asked her patiently.

"No, not nervous at all, I'm only about to go through with the biggest decision of my entire life!" She snapped "I'm even more nervous than when I had to decide which Guild I wanted to join back on Krypton."

"I don't get _why _you're nervous" Wally commented "you get to do what most of us have always _dreamed _of."

"Yeah but if you were in the actual position, you'd know my pain" she frowned.

"Just calm down, you'll be fine" Robin told her "besides, you're not the only one" he referred to Red Arrow, who only minutes before was trying very hard to hide his own excitement and nerves about the day.

"Roy's a rebel, sort of an outcast" she argued "_I,_ on the other hand, am _Supergirl_, the flesh and Blood of the most well known and loved man on Earth."

"Kara" a hand stopped her dead. Turning, she met eyes with the girls of the team, Zatanna, M'gann, Artemis and most recently, Raquel, or Rocket as most people knew her as. The last of which had yet to even speak around Kara, apparently she was a fan. "You'll be perfectly fine" the archer reassured.

"Besides" Connor spoke up from his place "you said it yourself, you're Supergirl, anything you do, they'll just love you even more" his words held a friendly tone, but Kara could read into the meaning behind them.

"Supergirl" a deep voice called from the entrance "it's time" she nodded, waved one last time to the team, and followed Batman outside where she took a place in line behind Icon, Plastic Man, the Atom, Doctor Fate, and finally, Red Arrow.

"The Justice League was formed for two reasons," she saw her cousin, Superman begin. "First, as an acknowledgement that no single individual, no matter how powerful, can solve all the world's problems alone. And second, to uphold the values of truth, liberty, and justice. That, uh, last one's even in the name." Superman smiled and the crowd laughed.

"These six heroes have sworn to uphold those values" Kara smiled at her place at the end of the line.

He began to walk down the line, shaking hands with each new member, and handing them a membership i.d card, one that The Atom struggled to handle. When the man got to Kara, he forwent a handshake, and pulled her in for a short hug.

Batman seemed to be annoyed slightly at the break in ceremony.

The event continued on past that point as normal, with Superman concluding his speech, and most of the League leaving for wherever, while others remained behind to answer questions from the press.

Black Canary, Red Tornado and Batman led the new members back inti the Hall, and the blonde turned around to speak to them, Roy and Kara particularly.

"Are you ready to see the Watchtower?" She asked them.

"Born that way" the boy smiled.

"Plus six months" Kara added.

"I'm sure the Team would want to congratulate all of you first" Canary reminded them.

"You don't know Raquel, that is, Rocket" Icon added "after making her wait inside, congratulations may not be the _first_ thing on her mind."

When the doors to the main are of the Hall opened, they found they entire room empty, without any sign of the team.

"I thought she would at least stick around" Icon remarked.

"No... This isn't normal" Kara stepped further into the hall "they wouldn't just leave like this, not without a real reason" she justified.

Batman opened a holographic interface on a nearby console. In front of them, a larger hologram showed footage of Jade Nguyen, otherwise known as Cheshire, board a jet, holding a suspicious briefcase. Beside it was a flight-pattern, showing the exact direction it went in after take-off, and a location where the plane seemed to just... Stop.

"That's why" he told them "Robin must have hacked Justice League systems, _again, _to receive the alert before us."

"What's the bet that briefcase is holding whatever Sportsmaster had in New Orleans?" The youngest blonde asked.

"They'd be half-way there by now, there's no point in trying to stop them" Black Canary sighed.

"No point in _you _stopping them" Kara turned on her heel and marched back out of the hall, the others following her.

Ignoring the press, who were clearly eager for an interview with the girl, she took off into the skies.

**Smokey Mountains  
****December 30, 10:50 EST**

When she arrived in the plane's location, she found it's shredded husk littering the mountainous area. Eight figures stood around the wreckage. It was the team.

Descending without any of them seeming to notice, she overheard the tail-end of their discussion

"Then why isn't the League here?" Rocket asked them all.

"Because the Boy Wonder hacked Justice League systems, again" Kara called out, drawing their attention "got the alert before us."

"Supergirl!" Most of the team looked shocked and worried, Connor seemed indifferent, and Rocket looked a little exited.

"What are you all doing here?" She demanded, her frustration clearly showing on her face.

Aqualad sighed "because Cheshire and the case she had represent _our_ unfinished business."

"And she isn't _my _business?" She glared at them all "I may a Leaguer now but Cheshire, the case and all the rest of this mess is just as much my business as it is yours."

"We're sorry, but we had to move before the League beat us here" Robin told her.

"Then wait for me, I_ am _the League, I could have talked to them for you, for _us_" they were silent.

"Where're the bodies anyway?" Superboy asked.

"Here's one," a voice taunted. Above them all, Cheshire stood, staring down at them "And it is… stunning."

"I am flora, not fauna. I am foliage, not trees. What am I?" Another voice taunted. Up high, on a second cliff, Iceberg, Shimmer and Mammoth flanked a slender man in a rugged green suit "Come on, you can get this. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I…" he prompted. Around the canyon they had been situated in, large pylons shot up from the ground, and emitted a large green dome of energy to cover the group. Mercenaries jumped out from hiding places all around, wielding the very same kind of Apokoliptan weapons that both Intergang and Queen Bee's soldiers had used on two separate occasions.

"Ambush," Robin finally answered.

_"Miss Martian, is everyone linked?"_ Aqualad asked from inside their minds.

_"Yes,"_ the girl replied.

_"Go!"_ Aqualad ordered.

Supergirl took off into the air, and beelined for Iceberg.

The last time they had fought, she took the frozen behemoth down without exerting any effort. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to enjoy the same circumstances this time.

In her mind, Aqualad ordered Superboy to do something.

As she approached, the icy beast readied itself for an impact, one which came not long after. The blonde hit Iceberg square in it's chest, but was shocked when she found herself being thrown back and rubbing her head in pain, actual pain.

Iceberg, on the other hand, seemed unharmed. He roared at her, and jumped off the cliff. Making a smooth shift to the left, Kara allowed the beast to fall to the ground, hitting it with a loud crash, and shaking the nearby earth.

Iceberg turned back to her as she hovered high above, shocked at his durability. Clearly, someone had managed to strengthen Iceberg, making him a fairly worthy opponent for the girl.

Zatanna yelled something in her arcane backwards-talk, and a blizzard began to rage within the dome. While the weather may be aiding the team, it seemed to be strengthening Iceberg. That would be an issue.

In one jump, Iceberg shot up from the ground at her faster than normal for a creature his size, and grabbed Kara by the waist. As they fell, Iceberg manipulated their position so that on impact with the ground, the Kryptonian would hit first, followed by Iceberg's colossal weight following.

The crash left a large hole in the ground, which remained still for a moment, until Iceberg flew out of it again, and Kara followed him, now on the offensive.

She hit him in mid-air, and juggled his body with kicks and punches. Hunks of ice fell off his body, weakening the beast. In one smooth movement, Kara kicked him upward as hard as possible, where he hit the top of the forcefield, and came back down. She then swung around to the side of him, and kicked Iceberg toward the cliff-face.

She flew over to him, and prepared for another attack, when Iceberg's large hand shot out again, and flipped them around, her stood behind as her face was pushed into the rock, and jumped. Kara was dragged up through the rock, leaving a deep groove in her wake, and then another crater down below when Iceberg hit her downward.

He dropped on top of her, but was thrown back into defence by a kick that threw him into the air.

Kara followed, and grabbed on leg, spinning wildly. At just the right moment, she let go, and the momentum made the frozen-villain arc towards Mammoth further away, who was also in mid-air. They collided, and fell to the ground below, when the formerly human Mammoth was caught Superboy, who flew towards the forcefield's roof. Wait, he flew?

_"SB, you're__– __you're flying!"_ Robin exclaimed in their shared thoughts. And it was true. He took Mammoth to the top of the dome, and smashed his face into it.

Kara was so preoccupied by the scene, that she didn't notice Iceberg moving towards her once more.

The body hit her like a freight train, and both flew towards the cliff again, shooting through the rock, leaving a deep hole where they had hit. Inside the crater, Kara pushed Iceberg backwards slowly, utilising her slightly superior strength to overpower the great beast.

They shot out of the hole together, exchanging blows while they careened toward another cliff face directly parallel to them.

Hitting the rocky surface in another burst of dust and rock, they rolled down it to the ground below. By the time they stopped, Iceberg had taken control of the fight once more, and was standing Over Kara's prone form. He lifted both arms over his head, preparing to bring them down hard on her together.

"Tlem S'grebeci sbmil!"

Suddenly, a Iceberg's entire body collapsed on her, and rolled away like a useless hunk of ice. Large puddles remained where his arms and legs were previously. The blonde stood up, and shared a nod with Zatanna, who was smiling at her from nearby.

Out the corner of her eye, Kara could see the mountain suddenly collapse, and then see the last of Riddler's goons be taken down, including the man himself.

The blonde Leaguer walked over to her old teammates, who had now gathered back in the middle of the area, and fixed them with a healthy glare, she was evidently still upset that they had left without her.

Reaching down, she snatched the briefcase from Artemis' hand, and turned to them all, "I know none of you like it, but this is exactly when we need to inform the League about what happened. Get into the Bio-ship, and head to the cave. I'll meet you there" she didn't allow them time to argue, electing instead to take off, briefcase in hand, and head towards the cave.

**Mount Justice  
****December 30, 15:45 EST**

"Tell me if this sounds familiar," Batman began. Beside him stood Red Tornado, Black Canary and Icon. Kara stood on her own with the briefcase, and the team were gathered before them all.

"You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives. And, your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons, proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity…" Batman let out a rare smile "Well done."

"And then there's this" Kara opened up the briefcase she held "bio-technology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry" Batman told them. Icon lifted a piece of the small tech.

"Though I am unfamiliar with the species, the bio-component is clearly not of Earth" he placed it back down.

Batman closed the case and said, "We'll take it to the Watchtower for further examination." Batman and Red Tornado entered first.

"Recognised: Batman 0-2, Red Tornado 1-6."

"Congratulations on the League thing!" Raquel ran over to Icon before he could leave "sorry I skipped out."

"Yes, well we both seem to have found teams that suit us" he smiled at his protege.

"We should go too, don't wanna miss the League's induction party" Canary cut in. They walked over to the zeta-tubes, and the woman turned around "Kara?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm coming, just need to take care of stuff here first" she nodded.

"Black Canary 1-3, Icon 2-0."

After the last League member had left, Kara turned on her team "so, we were obviously set up."

"Yes," Kaldur agreed "Cheshire and Riddler were tipped and ready for us."

"Not the mole thing again," Artemis sighed.

"Mole thing?" Raquel walked back over "Again?" She fixed them all with a confused look.

"We had intel that there was a traitor on the Team," Wally explained.

"Mainly Artemis, M'gann, or me" Connor grunted.

Kaldur placed a hand on the clone's shoulder "it is more complicated than that" Superboy shrugged it off and marched away slightly "but your recent behaviour does concern me.

Your attack on Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed."

"And last I remembered, you don't fly" Kara agreed.

He ignored them, but suddenly place a hand on his head, almost as if in pain.

He then turned back around "There's something I need to do, something I need to tell you" he looked down, ashamedly "last month, on Thanksgiving, I went back to Cadmus. Found a few things out" he looked away "when I was cloned, only half the DNA was Superman's. The other half was human. That's why I don't have… will never have, full Kryptonian powers."

"Well you looked pretty damn Kryptonian today" Kara glared.

Conner lifted up his sleeve, revealing a black shield sticker on his arm "I've been using these," he explained "Shields. They suppress my human DNA, I get the flight, the heat vision, but I think that I also get angry... Well, angrier. I'm sorry."

"Where did you get those?" Aqualad asked.

"From my human father," Conner explained. "Lex Luthor."

"What!?" Kara let out. All eyes turned to her.

"I said I'm sorry" He justified.

"That doesn't mean anything. You knew about this for over a month, and you never said a thing to me" she huffed "I thought we were friends, family"

"We are, but- I didn't think you'd understand."

"No, I _don't _understand. I don't understand why you couldn't just tell me."

He didn't answer, and she let it go... for now.

"He's summoned me to Santa Prisca" he finally told them.

Artemis audibly sighed "listen" they turned to her "Superboy isn't the only ones suffering from bad DNA" she turned around and activated holographic files of Cheshire, Sportsmaster, and an old mercenary, Huntress "my mother is Huntress, an ex-con. The rest of my family isn't even ex… My dad's Sportsmaster and he's sending my sister, Cheshire, to fly me to Santa Prisca too."

"That's why…" Wally realised, remembering their failed New Orleans mission.

"Yeah," Artemis sighed. "I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out."

"I knew," Robin admitted. She looked up in shock "Hey, I'm a detective. But it never mattered, you aren't your family, you're one of us."

"So," Wally leaned up against Artemis "who's next?" He joked.

"I am," M'gann spoke up quietly.

"I swear I was kidding" Wally quickly recovered.

"Queen Bee's been blackmailing me," M'gann muttered "she wants me in Santa Prisca too."

"Blackmailing? How?"

"She knows my… true Martian form," M'gann looked away from them.

"Bald M'gann?" Robin asked "who cares if–"

"No," she interrupted, before sighing. Suddenly, she slowly morphed into a large, white... creature.

All but Kaldur, Connor, and Kara recoiled in shock.

_"I __realised__ you would never accept me for who I am if you saw what I really am__…__"_

"M'gann," Kaldur chided gently "Did we truly seem so shallow?"

_"I couldn't take a chance,"_ M'gann began to whimper "being a White Martian among the Green ones on Mars, I endured constant rejection. I couldn't face that from y–"

"From me?" Connor stopped her, and grabbed her large hand "I've known it since we mind-melded last September, in Bialya."

_"__But That was before we even became a couple! Why didn't you say anything?__" _She mentally-gasped

"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."

M'gann returned to her green-martian form, and explained she felt more comfortable like that.

"Well, as long there aren't any more deep hidden secrets to tell, we should probably head to Santa Prisca" Wally decided.

Aqualad turned to Kara. She knew what he was asking, if she wanted to go with them. She did want to go, but being in the Justice League meant otherwise.

"You guys go, I should probably head up to the Watchtower, keep up appearances" they nodded, and she split off from them, approaching the zeta-tubes

"Recognised: Supergirl 2-2."

**The Watchtower  
****December 30, 23:30 EST**

When Black Canary mentioned an induction party, Kara didn't expect her to be serious. It wasn't what most would classify as one, not by a long shot, but where music or dancing lacked, the League members were all socialising, completely ignorant of the issues facing them, at least for now.

In the midst of them, her fellow new recruits were surrounded by other Leaguers. Red Arrow and Green Arrow were talking like old friends, not former partners who suffered a rough split.

Kara circulated the room slowly, speaking to Leaguers she had never exchanged more than two words before, and others she considered to be close friends. Eventually, she noticed the one man missing, and set out to look for him.

She found Batman in a separate room, closely inspecting a piece of bio-tech from the briefcase Cheshire had dropped earlier.

"What are you doing here? Party's out there" she gestured behind her.

"I'm investigating the Starro bio-technology" he explained "work needs to be done."

She rolled her eyes and walked over "Starro?"

"Aquaman's suggestion, he seemed familiar with the species."

She hummed in response, and stepped over next to him. Wordlessly, she opened a holographic interface, and began working beside him.

Batman looked over inquisitively. She shrugged.

"If I can't help the team deal with Cheshire and her secret allies in person, then I'll help them from here."

Silently accepting her decision, Batman placed the Starro tech on a small pedestal, and the whole room lit up with shots of the microscopic cells that made it up. It was made up of a complex mix of components, some of which Kara couldn't name despite her childhood surrounded by a scientifically inclined mother.

"Not to give credit to our enemies, but this tech is _incredible" _the blonde allowed her inner scientist to gush over the piece. That was her mother's influence.

Behind them, Red Arrow entered. "So, are you to ever coming back to the party?" He asked them.

"This bio-circuitry is disturbingly sophisticated" Batman told him.

"I'll take that as a no" the archer smiled.

He stepped up behind Batman, and touched his neck. The Dark Knight straightened, and turned, marching from the room.

Kara looked over in surprise "Batman?" She looked to Roy "where's he going?"

"Nowhere important" he casually placed a hand on her shoulder, and she felt something be pushed into it.

Walking mindlessly after Batman, she entered the Watchtower's entrance hall, and found the entire League kneeling down before the zeta-tubes. She took a place at the front, and knelt down beside them all, while Batman moved to the tube itself, and Roy watched on from behind.

"Override: Batman 0-2, Recognised: Access granted: Vandal Savage A0-4."

From the zeta-tube, a man in a deep blue coat entered, his face covered in scars and a smug look.

Roy's cloudy look disappeared, and he seemed to wake up "I-I was the mole?"

"Yes" Savage confirmed. He stepped over to a large window overlooking the Earth "Yes, you were."

To be continued...


	26. Auld Acquaintances

**Disclaimer; I most definitely don't own Young Justice, or any of the characters seen in this work of fiction, they all belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros.**

* * *

**The Watchtower  
****December 30, 23:45 EST**

"Override: Batman 0-2, Recognised: Access granted: Vandal Savage A0-4."

From the zeta-tube, a man in a deep blue coat entered, his face covered in scars and a smug look.

Roy's cloudy look disappeared, and he seemed to wake up "I-I was the mole?"

"Yes" Savage confirmed. He stepped over to a large window overlooking the Earth "Yes, you were."

Not giving him a chance to act, Kara jumped up from her position, and grabbed Roy by his upper arm. Savage spun around in shock at the noise.

The blonde threw Roy at the zeta-tubes, and typed in a destination

"Recognised: Red Arrow 2-1, Supergirl 2-2"

**Washington, D.C  
****December 30, 23:48 EST**

"Supergirl?" Roy tentatively asked.

"Yeah. I'll spare you the need to ask, but my suit is Martian Bio-tech" she told him.

"Then, how come you were acting like that?"

"I'm no stranger to mind control" she explained "once you placed the Starro tech on me, I knew they thought I would be under control, so I played along."

They both began to run, knowing Savage was going to send other Leaguers to follow them. Kara suddenly stopped Roy.

"Know anywhere we can hide out? At least for now?" She asks him.

"Yeah, I've got a supply cache set up nearby"

They made their way to his hideout, having a close encounter with Green Arrow, Flash and Aquaman that left Roy without a bow.

"Do you have anything I can replace my costume with?" The blonde asked once they holed up inside the safe-house.

"Yeah, spare outfits in the next room, I may have something for you" she nodded, and followed his instructions. She found a white T-shirt, complete with 'S' shield, blue skirt, and pair of matching cape and boots in red.

She walked back out into the main room, where Roy was stocking his quiver with new trick arrows. He turned and gave her a strange look.

"It was all I could find, there were even a pair of gloves that matched."

"Well, I think we should stay here for a while longer, at least until the League moves on."

"I guess" the girl nodded, she was then silent for a moment "should we try contacting the team?"

"No" he frowned "I imaging that if Savage got through to the League, then he's gotten to them as well" he peeked through a boarded up window "but if he hasn't, then he'll be working on it. We should wait, and figure out how to take them down.

So they sat, and waited for a while. They would take turns on leaving the safe-house to check out the city, see if there was any sign of the League out there.

A while had passed since the last guard shift, and when Kara came down to swap with Roy, he was sitting with his back up against a wall, glaring at door opposite.

"Roy? You okay?"

"I was the mole" he grunted.

She sighed, and sat down beside him "that doesn't matter."

"Yes it does" he growled "I betrayed the League, the Team, our friends" he closed his eyes behind the domino mask.

"No you didn't, Savage did, he just figured out how to manipulate you to do so" she placed a hand on his shoulder "however he did that doesn't matter, because we're still teammates, _friends."_

He was silent, and looked away in thought "I think Sportsmaster was my handler" he told her "during the Rhelasian peace conference, he used a phrase, 'Broken Arrow,' I think I was somehow hypnotised to completely shut down when he said it."

"Hey, It's gonna be fine. W'ell take down Savage, put Sportsmaster away, and save our friends."

More time passed, and Kara found herself standing on the rooftop opposite Roy's supply cache. She crouched in the shadow of a tall air conditioning unit, and kept a close eye on the opposing roof.

The girl was about to return and swap shifts with the archer inside, when a barely noticeable shift in the scenery above the rooftop took place. She stood, and narrowed her eyes. She gasped lightly when Aqualad and M'gann dropped out of mid-air. Aqualad seemed to order the girl to stay put, which is when Kara made her move.

She flew over, and dropped from the sky in front of her Martian friend. Both stepped back from the other, and took up a combat stance.

"Read my mind" the blonde ordered.

"Wha-"

"Do it" she demanded.

Miss M's eyes began to glow, and a presence could be felt in Kara's head.

_"Are you Miss Martian?"_ She asked _"or has Vandal Savage gotten to you too."_

_"If course I'm me" _M'gann cried indignantly _"why are you even asking?"_

_"Because, us aliens gotta stick together" _Kara hoped the familiar words would prove something to the Martian, and was pleased when her eyes returned to normal, and widened slightly. The two gingerly hugged, and stepped back.

"I'm glad to see you're still you" Kara smiled.

"Me too" M'gann saw something behind her.

Kaldur and Roy exited the building, and at the former's nod of approval followed the girls back onto the Bio-ship. Connor and Artemis were waiting for them.

"We were told you were the mole" Aqualad explained as they flew for the cave "but we have reason to doubt."

"Forget doubt" Arrow replied "I_ was _the mole."

"Batman and Tornado said you're a Cadmus clone, like me" Connor suggested. That made more sense than Kara liked.

"That explains it" Arrow sighed "I was a sleeper agent, pre-programmed to infiltrate the League" he decided " he explained the theory of Sportsmaster and his shut-off phrase "broken arrow" and how it was used to give him more orders "I think one of those orders was to focus suspicion on the three of you" he looked back at M'gann, Connor and Artemis "I'm sorry."

"How did Batman discover this, and prevent you from betraying the League?"

Kara audibly scoffed at the notion "he didn't" they all looked to her "the entire League is still under the control of Vandal Savage. He forced Roy-" the archer bristled at the use of the name "-to infect us with the same stuff we confiscated from Cheshire earlier, Starro-tech. The only reason _I'm _not under control, is because he accidentally put the chip on my martian-tech bio-suit, not me."

"I'm sorry, but how is it that _you _are no longer enslaved?" M'gann asked Roy.

"No Starro-tech for starters" he explained "just my... Cadmus programming. And once I'd satisfied it's last parameter, my mind began to clear."

"There's no doubt that Savage was going to Starro-tech Ro-Red Arrow too, but he stopped to, I don't know, bask. That's when we ran" Kara finished.

"I promise, I can clean any residual programming from your mind" M'gann offered.

_"Great" _Robin suddenly said in their minds _"'cause we _really _meed to compare notes" _he was driving the Super-cycle with Zatanna, Rocket, KF, Wolf, RT's body, a half-broken android, and an unconscious, bound Black Canary.

**The Watchtower  
****December 31, 21:16 EST**

"Recognised: Black Canary 1-3, Red Tornado 1-6, Red Arrow 2-1, Supergirl 2-2"

Supergirl and her three fellow Leaguers, Tornado now in his old body once more, exited the whir of zeta-tubes, coming face to face with Vandal Savage. Above him, Klarion the Witch Boy fiddled with red holographic screens.

"Any problems?" Savage asked Canary.

"Despite an initial setback, I was able to re-infect Red Tornado, Supergirl and Red Arrow."

"As well as the entire team" Tornado chimed in "they await reprogramming back on Earth."

"I think not" Savage denied, much to their shock "you see, Starro-tech does not reprogram the mind, it offers us remote control of it."

"We know exactly whose infected and whose not" Klarion boasted "and _none _of you are!"

Green light shot out from a previously invisible Green Lantern, wrapping around the bodies of the Leaguers, as well as Canary and Supergirl's mouths, and the latter's eyes too.

"But that is easily rectified" Savage grinned.

"50,000 years of life, and nothing every troubled me as much as the founding of the Justice League" Savage told his captive audience "dedicated to maintaining society's calcified status quo-" he placed a Starro-tech chip on Canary's neck "the League would protect mankind from disaster, crime, tragedy of any kind.

"Had you never heard of the survival of the fittest?" He asked them "in essence, you 'heroes' sought to protect humanity from it's own glorious evolution. As such, you forced my more enlightened colleagues and myself, to organise a response" he moved on to infect the other three helpless Leaguers with Starro-tech.

"We created or co-opted networks of operatives, placed key-individuals in key-positions, made certain we were on the cutting edge of all new technologies, genetic engineering, biochemical engineering, robotics, nano-robotics, even techno-sorcery, not to mention every conceivable method of mind-control" Green Lantern allowed his energy bindings to dissipate.

"Cold-heard science, a little misdirection, and now you, champions of stagnation, have become our agents of change, forcing the human race to evolve on a more advanced schedule, allowing the Earth to take its rightful place, at the centre of the Cosmos."

"The brats are aboard!" Klarion suddenly announced "they've taken away four of my toys" he scowled.

"Recall all League away missions, it's time to put these children in their place, once and for all" Savage growled.

"Finally!" Klarion cheered. His cat then meowed "Oh, yeah. Hey, Vandal, shouldn't those four be back online by now?"

"What!?"

The four suddenly snapped to attention. Canary threw a Canary Cry at Green Lantern, while Kara knocked him out and placed a cure-tech chip on his skin.

The others attempted to harm Savage or Klarion, to no avail unfortunately.

"You'll be sorry" the sorcerer smirked.

A boom tube appeared beside, and six other Leaguers, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkwoman, and the other Green Lantern exited.

While they immediately set about taking down Canary Arrow, and tearing off Tornado's limbs, Kara flew away from the room in the hopes of finding her friends.

She tapped into Miss Martian's telepathic link between the team _"hey, guys?"_

_"What is it?"_ Someone asked.

_"You know those Leaguers we were really worried about fighting, like Superman, and Batman? Well they're here, and in the same room, and they just took out RT, Canary _and _Arrow."_

_"Well, now I'm feeling whelmed" _Robin said.

_"We need to prioritise our targets. Superboy, Miss M, Rocket and Robin with me, the rest of you should focus on the rest of the League."_

She tapped out of the link then, and stopped as she realise the six heroes who had come out of the boom tube were just behind her. One on six, not very good odds.

"Never-mind, _now _I'm feeling whelmed" she heard from beside. To her left, Robin and Superboy stood, while to her left stood Miss Martian and Rocket. Now _those _were better odds.

The two Martians flew directly at one another, while the boys beelined for their own mentors, leaving Rocket and Kara to deal with the remaining Lantern, Thanagarian, and Amazonian.

Wonder Woman's combat skill and Lantern's power ring would present the biggest threats, but Nth metal packed a punch, and Hawkwoman _knew _how to use it.

That was when Sphere and Wolf joined the fight, moving directly to engage Green Lantern.

Wordlessly, Supergirl flew in as well, heading directly towards her one time mentor, and close friend, Wonder Woman.

They clashed in the air, and dropped to the ground, using the Amazonian combat they both learned from the best warriors on Themyscira against each other.

After a short while of trading blows and blocks, the blonde threw one especially hard punch, and it connected hard with Wonder Woman's shoulder. Usually, the Amazonian would have redirected the blow, and capitalised on Kara's own broken defence. She did not this time.

Kara then fired a pair of lasers into Diana's other shoulder. They hit, and left two small dots of singed skin.

Kara had fought Wonder Woman before, many times even, back on Themyscira, and never had she held her own against the Amazon princess. This could have been attributed to Kara's own training and development, had Diana not been showing clear signs of a weak defence, and had she actually used her bracers to block Kara's heat vision.

"This isn't like Wonder Woman, she's being sloppy" Kara audibly noted, blocking another swing.

"That's because it isn't her" Robin said "her abilities are limited to the one controlling her"

"So the reason we're in danger, is also why we actually stand a chance" Kara nodded, and grabbed Diana's arm as she went for another punch. Kara flipped the woman over her head, and watched as she sailed across the room, through a wall.

With Wonder Woman temporarily disposed of, Kara turned to help Rocket with Hawkwoman. They were flying around the room in large arcs, the former just barely dodging swings from the Nth metal mace.

Kara intercepted the chase in the air, and tackled Hawkwoman to the ground. They separated, and rolled along the floor.

Rocket then erected a sphere of pale blue energy around the Tharaganian, who began beating on the sphere's inside in anger.

"Can you keep that up?" Kara asked her.

"If she keeps hitting it like that I can, it's powered by kinetic energy, but now I'm stuck here!"

"Don't worry about that" the blonde flew past her, and crashed into Wonder Woman, who had recovered, and was ready for another round.

They stood up from the impact, and faced of against each other. Wonder Woman threw her lasso at Kara, who held her arms up in reflex of the item flying straight at her face.

The lasso looped itself around her wrists, and bound them together, tight. Kara had never been subject to this end of Diana's world famous weapon, but it was just as painful as she thought.

Wonder Woman tightened the loop further, and Kara knew that if she weren't Kryptonian, the rope would have cut right through her skin.

Kryptonian tugged back on it, and her superior strength prevailed, pulling Wonder Woman toward her. As the loop around her wrists loosened, she pulled them out, and hit the Amazonian with an uppercut.

Diana unfortunately recovered mid-air, and ended up on her feet before the blonde.

Kara knew that unless she found a way to knock the Amazonian out, she would be finished. That was when a plan came to her.

The blonde stepped forward and began blocking punches thrown by Diana. Each fist hitting it's mark, but one layer of arm too far.

Wonder Woman realised that tactic wasn't going to work, so she switched moves, and threw a kick straight at the Kryptonian's side.

Kara caught it, and smirked "perfect"

She then began to spin in a circle, slowly gaining speed to the point where Wonder Woman was being held off the ground, only by Kara's grip on her leg, and the momentum of the spin.

Kara increased the speed tremendously, and soon the two where almost creating a tornado within the halls of the Watchtower. With blood draining from every part of her body, and pooling in one place, Diana finally lost consciousness, and Kara finally slowed the spin to a halt, so she could place a cure-tech chip on her neck, and sit down to regain balance herself.

"So, it turns out that Kryptonians get dizzy too" she grunted. The sick feeling wasn't helped when Robin pulled out a piece of Kryptonite to bring down Superman.

"Kryptonite, it hurts" Connor groaned as she wobbled over to the boys.

"Yes, it does, which is why Batman tries to regulate it all in one _overwhelmingly impenetrable _vault" she said.

"Well, more like _whelmingly penetrable" _Robin smiled.

"That's nice, but I'm still stuck here!" Rocket called out from where Hawkwoman continued to smash the kinetic energy forcefield bubble she was stuck in.

They, along with M'gann who had been dealing with her uncle, rushed over to help Rocket, and place a chip on Hawkwoman's neck as soon as she was taken down.

They then moved on the League's main hall, where they found the rest of the team standing around a dissipating red portal, and a limbless Red Tornado.

"Congratulations, Team, you have won the day" the incapacitated android spoke from the floor.

A holographic clock appeared beside them, and showed a new years countdown hit 00:00:00

"Happy New Year, Justice League"

"I should've done this a long time ago" Wally said as he lifted Artemis up off the ground "no kidding" she agreed, as they kissed.

M'gann and Connor did the same, and then Zatanna and Robin.

"Liking this team more every day" Rocket smiled, kissing Kaldur on the cheek.

"Human customs still elude me" Tornado commented.

"Don't think too hard about it" Kara chuckled, lifting up a discarded arm. She cleared her throat loudly, and all snapped their attention to her.

"If you're all finished, the League will be waking up at any moment, and Tornado still has no limbs" she held up the arm to punctuate her point.

They realised what she meant, and while half moved to fix Tornado, the rest left to debrief the no doubt disoriented Leaguers.

Once the entirety of the League had been brought up to speed, and congratulated the team on their work, Kara moved over to her cousin, her older cousin.

"Kal, we need to talk-" she looked around "-privately" she led him out of the room, and into the air, where below, they could see Connor and M'gann embracing as they looked out over the Earth through a large window.

"I know you have issue with him, and his pure existence is a bit uncomfortable, but you _really _need to talk with Superboy" she urged.

He was about to argue, but she held up a hand "do you remember when _I _first landed on Earth, and I was so scared, and confused, and all I had was you?" He nodded "well now that's him down there. You went to Apokolips to save me, and fought with an intergalactic warlord just for me, so now you need to do the same for your _other _family"

He looked away.

"Did you know he has a name?" This surprised her cousin "Connor Kent."

He was silent, but then descended towards the clone. M'gann noticed, and walked away with a grin.

"The team did good work here" Superman said "_you_ did good work."

"Uh thanks" Connor awkwardly returned.

"So… I heard you took a name."

"Uh, yeah, Conner Kent."

"My secret identity is "Clark Kent"."

"I didn't know! I wasn't trying to-"

Superman cut him off "No, thing is… I'm glad, Conner Kent, it seems right."

For the first time ever, they actually smiled at each other.

"So, have my two thick-skulled boys made up?" Kara asked as she touched down beside them.

"Yeah" the chorused.

"Good, now I can do this" she grabbed them by the necks, and pulled both into a superpowered hug that would kill any human. She had been sick of playing mediator between them.

After splitting from her united cousins, Kara set out in search of one more person, this time for some far more serious business. She found him in the League's main meeting room, sitting at a large 'U' shaped table with Robin, Aqualad and some others.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting?" She asked.

"No. Do you need anything?" Batman asked.

"Kind of... Can- can I talk to you" she began rubbing the back of her neck. Batman nodded, and stood up. He led her out of the room, and into an empty hallway where the two looked out over at Earth through a floor to ceiling window.

"Well?"

She sighed long and deep "look I... I just... This is really difficult," she took another deep breath as Batman watched her patiently "I... I don't think I'm ready" she admitted "to be a Justice League member, that is."

His eyes narrowed "and why is that?"

"Well, I've actually been thinking about this for a while, since the Harjavti mission to be precise, and I couldn't handle the pressure of being leader on that mission, I thought I could, but I couldn't. And then when I was inducted to the League, _that_ pressure got to me _too"_ she sighed deeply.

"I guess... I guess ever since the botched training exercise, the one where M'gann's telepathic powers overwhelmed Manhunter's, I lost confidence in myself, subconsciously, but still... I felt like I wasn't ready for this kind of responsibility, and this mess with Vandal Savage and whoever else he's working with, it kind of confirmed it for me."

He was silent for a moment "I understand" she smiled lightly "however, the League simply cannot publicly drop a new member less than two days after her induction" Kara's smile fell "that being said, the team could of course always use another 'den mother'" and her face lit up once more, and she swore she saw a hint of a smile in the perpetually stoic Batman's face.

They both turned back to the view of Earth.

"Happy new year Bats."

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**So, it's the end of season one, but don't worry! A sequel will be out relatively soon, this one focusing on the team in the five years between now and Invasion. New heroes will join, some will leave, and a bombshell of an end is already in the works, so look out for that!**

**Thank you to everyone who took the time out to read this**** story, and I hope you stick around for the sequel, "Young Justice: Legacy" (unless someone has a better idea for a name, in which case, please share) but still, thank you.**


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